Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways. The most common method of presenting animation is as a motion picture or video program, although there are other methods.

Origin of the name

"Animation" discovered from the Latin name ''anima'', the "animating principle", the vital force inside every living creature.

Early examples

Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion drawing can be found in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are depicted with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the perception of motion.

A 5,000 year old earthen bowl found in Iran in Shahr-i Sokhta has five images of a goat painted along the sides. This has been claimed to be an example of early animation. However, since no equipment existed to show the images in motion, such a series of images cannot be called animation in a true sense of the word.

A Chinese zoetrope-type device had been invented in 180 AD. The phenakistoscope, praxinoscope, and the common flip book were early popular animation devices invented during the 19th century.

These devices produced the appearance of movement from sequential drawings using technological means, but animation did not really develop much further until the advent of cinematography.

There is no single person who can be considered the "creator" of film animation, as there were several people working on projects which could be considered animation at about the same time.

Georges Méliès was a creator of special-effect films; he was generally one of the first people to use animation with his technique. He discovered a technique by accident which was to stop the camera rolling to change something in the scene, and then continue rolling the film. This idea was later known as stop-motion animation. Méliès discovered this technique accidentally when his camera broke down while shooting a bus driving by. When he had fixed the camera, a hearse happened to be passing by just as Méliès restarted rolling the film, his end result was that he had managed to make a bus transform into a hearse. This was just one of the great contributors to animation in the early years.

The earliest surviving stop-motion advertising film was an English short by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper called ''Matches: An Appeal'' (1899). Developed for the Bryant and May Matchsticks company, it involved stop-motion animation of wired-together matches writing a patriotic call to action on a blackboard.

J. Stuart Blackton was possibly the first American film-maker to use the techniques of stop-motion and hand-drawn animation. Introduced to film-making by Edison, he pioneered these concepts at the turn of the 20th century, with his first copyrighted work dated 1900. Several of his films, among them ''The Enchanted Drawing'' (1900) and ''Humorous Phases of Funny Faces'' (1906) were film versions of Blackton's "lightning artist" routine, and utilized modified versions of Méliès' early stop-motion techniques to make a series of blackboard drawings appear to move and reshape themselves. 'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces' is regularly cited as the first true animated film, and Blackton is considered the first true animator.

Another French artist, Émile Cohl, began drawing cartoon strips and created a film in 1908 called ''Fantasmagorie''. The film largely consisted of a stick figure moving about and encountering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle that transforms into a flower. There were also sections of live action where the animator’s hands would enter the scene. The film was created by drawing each frame on paper and then shooting each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard look. This makes ''Fantasmagorie'' the first animated film created using what came to be known as traditional (hand-drawn) animation.

Following the successes of Blackton and Cohl, many other artists began experimenting with animation. One such artist was Winsor McCay, a successful newspaper cartoonist, who created detailed animations that required a team of artists and painstaking attention for detail. Each frame was drawn on paper; which invariably required backgrounds and characters to be redrawn and animated. Among McCay's most noted films are ''Little Nemo'' (1911), ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914) and ''The Sinking of the Lusitania'' (1918).

The production of animated short films, typically referred to as "cartoons", became an industry of its own during the 1910s, and cartoon shorts were produced to be shown in movie theaters. The most successful early animation producer was John Randolph Bray, who, along with animator Earl Hurd, patented the cel animation process which dominated the animation industry for the rest of the decade.

''El Apóstol'' (Spanish: "The Apostle") was a 1917 Argentine animated film utilizing cutout animation, and the world's first animated feature film.

Techniques

Traditional animation

Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation) was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, which are first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one onto motion picture film against a painted background by a rostrum camera.

The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery media, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media such as digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved, and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over the past 70 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" to describe cel animation which makes extensive use of computer technology.

Examples of traditionally animated feature films include ''Pinocchio'' (United States, 1940), ''Animal Farm'' (United Kingdom, 1954), and ''Akira'' (Japan, 1988). Traditional animated films which were produced with the aid of computer technology include ''The Lion King'' (US, 1994) ''Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)'' (Japan, 2001), and ''Les Triplettes de Belleville'' (2003).

Full animation refers to the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films, which regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement. Fully animated films can be done in a variety of styles, from more realistically animated works such as those produced by the Walt Disney studio (''Beauty and the Beast'', ''Aladdin'', ''Lion King'') to the more 'cartoony' styles of those produced by the Warner Bros. animation studio. Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full animation, as are non-Disney works such as ''The Secret of NIMH'' (US, 1982), ''The Iron Giant'' (US, 1999), and ''Nocturna'' (Spain, 2007).

Limited animation involves the use of less detailed and/or more stylized drawings and methods of movement. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression, as in ''Gerald McBoing Boing'' (US, 1951), ''Yellow Submarine'' (UK, 1968), and much of the anime produced in Japan. Its primary use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media such as television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and other TV animation studios) and later the Internet (web cartoons).

Rotoscoping is a technique, patented by Max Fleischer in 1917, where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings, as in ''The Lord of the Rings'' (US, 1978), or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in ''Waking Life'' (US, 2001) and ''A Scanner Darkly'' (US, 2006). Some other examples are: ''Fire and Ice'' (USA, 1983) and ''Heavy Metal'' (1981).

Live-action/animation is a technique, when combining hand-drawn characters into live action shots. One of the earlier uses of it was Koko the Clown when Koko was drawn over live action footage. Other examples would include ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'' (USA, 1988), ''Space Jam'' (USA, 1996) and ''Osmosis Jones'' (USA, 2002).

Stop motion

Stop-motion animation is used to describe animation created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time to create the illusion of movement. There are many different types of stop-motion animation, usually named after the type of media used to create the animation. Computer software is widely available to create this type of animation.

Puppet animation typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting with each other in a constructed environment, in contrast to the real-world interaction in model animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep them still and steady as well as constraining them to move at particular joints. Examples include ''The Tale of the Fox'' (France, 1937), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (US, 1993), ''Corpse Bride'' (US, 2005), ''Coraline'' (US, 2009), the films of Jiří Trnka and the TV series ''The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss'' (US, 1996-1997), and ''Robot Chicken'' (US, 2005–present).

Puppetoon, created using techniques developed by George Pal, are puppet-animated films which typically use a different version of a puppet for different frames, rather than simply manipulating one existing puppet.

Clay animation, or Plasticine animation often abbreviated as ''claymation'', uses figures made of clay or a similar malleable material to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an armature or wire frame inside of them, similar to the related puppet animation (below), that can be manipulated in order to pose the figures. Alternatively, the figures may be made entirely of clay, such as in the films of Bruce Bickford, where clay creatures morph into a variety of different shapes. Examples of clay-animated works include ''The Gumby Show'' (US, 1957–1967) ''Morph'' shorts (UK, 1977–2000), ''Wallace and Gromit'' shorts (UK, as of 1989), Jan Švankmajer's ''Dimensions of Dialogue'' (Czechoslovakia, 1982), ''The Trap Door'' (UK, 1984). Films include ''Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', ''Chicken Run'' and The Adventures of Mark Twain.

Cutout animation is a type of stop-motion animation produced by moving 2-dimensional pieces of material such as paper or cloth. Examples include Terry Gilliam's animated sequences from ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (UK, 1969–1974); ''Fantastic Planet'' (France/Czechoslovakia, 1973) ; ''Tale of Tales'' (Russia, 1979), The pilot episode of the TV series (and sometimes in episodes) of ''South Park'' (US, 1997).

* Silhouette animation is a variant of cutout animation in which the characters are backlit and only visible as silhouettes. Examples include ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'' (Weimar Republic, 1926) and ''Princes et princesses'' (France, 2000).

Model animation refers to stop-motion animation created to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects, and split screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with live actors and settings. Examples include the work of Ray Harryhausen, as seen in films such ''Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963), and the work of Willis O'Brien on films such as ''King Kong'' (1933 film).

* Go motion is a variant of model animation which uses various techniques to create motion blur between frames of film, which is not present in traditional stop-motion. The technique was invented by Industrial Light & Magic and Phil Tippett to create special effects scenes for the film ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980). Another example is the dragon named ''Vermithrax'' from Dragonslayer (1981 film).

Object animation refers to the use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion animation, as opposed to specially created items.

* Graphic animation uses non-drawn flat visual graphic material (photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, etc.) which are sometimes manipulated frame-by-frame to create movement. At other times, the graphics remain stationary, while the stop-motion camera is moved to create on-screen action.

Pixilation involves the use of live humans as stop motion characters. This allows for a number of surreal effects, including disappearances and reappearances, allowing people to appear to slide across the ground, and other such effects. Examples of pixilation include ''The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb'' and ''Angry Kid'' shorts.

Computer animation

Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying factor being that the animation is created digitally on a computer.

2D animation

2D animation figures are created and/or edited on the computer using 2D bitmap graphics or created and edited using 2D vector graphics. This includes automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques such as of, interpolated morphing, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping.

2D animation has many applications, including analog computer animation, Flash animation and PowerPoint animation. Cinemagraphs are still photographs in the form of an animated GIF file of which part is animated.

3D animation

3D animation is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator. In order to manipulate a mesh, it is given a digital skeletal structure that can be used to control the mesh. This process is called rigging. Various other techniques can be applied, such as mathematical functions (ex. gravity, particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, effects such as fire and water and the use of motion capture to name but a few, these techniques fall under the category of 3D dynamics. Well-made 3D animations can be difficult to distinguish from live action and are commonly used as visual effects for recent movies. Toy Story (1995, USA) is the first feature-length film to be created and rendered entirely using 3D graphics.

Terms

Photo realistic animation, is used primarily for animation that attempts to resemble real life. Using advanced rendering that makes detailed skin, plants, water, fire, clouds, etc. to mimic real life. Examples include Up (2009, USA), Kung-Fu Panda (2008, USA), Ice Age (2002, USA).

Cel-shaded animation, is used to mimic traditional animation using CG software. Shading looked stark and less blending colors. Examples include, Skyland (2007, France), Appleseed (2007, Japan), The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2002, Japan)

Motion capture, is used when live action actors wear special suits that allow computers to copy their movements into CG characters. Examples include Polar Express (2004, USA), Beowulf (2007, USA), Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009, USA)

2D animation techniques tend to focus on image manipulation while 3D techniques usually build virtual worlds in which characters and objects move and interact. 3D animation can create images that seem real to the viewer.

Other animation techniques

Drawn on film animation: a technique where footage is produced by creating the images directly on film stock, for example by Norman McLaren, Len Lye and Stan Brakhage.

Paint-on-glass animation: a technique for making animated films by manipulating slow drying oil paints on sheets of glass, for example by Aleksandr Petrov.

Erasure animation: a technique using tradition 2D medium, photographed over time as the artist manipulates the image. For example, William Kentridge is famous for his charcoal erasure films, and Piotr Dumała for his auteur technique of animating scratches on plaster.

Pinscreen animation: makes use of a screen filled with movable pins, which can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows. The technique has been used to create animated films with a range of textural effects difficult to achieve with traditional cel animation.

Sand animation: sand is moved around on a back- or front-lighted piece of glass to create each frame for an animated film. This creates an interesting effect when animated because of the light contrast.

Flip book: A flip book (sometimes, especially in British English, called a flick book) is a book with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, but may also be geared towards adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books, but may appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, often in the page corners. Software packages and websites are also available that convert digital video files into custom-made flip books.

Other techniques and approaches

Character animation

Chuckimation

Multi-sketching

Special effects animation

Animatronics

Stop motion

See also

12 basic principles of animation

Adult animation

Animation database

Animation software

Architectural animation

Tradigital art

Avar (animation variable)

Blocking (animation)

Computer generated imagery

History of animation

International Tournée of Animation

List of movie genres

List of animation studios

List of animated feature-length films

List of animated shorts available on DVD

List of animated short series

List of animated television series

List of computer-animated films

List of stop motion films

List of traditional animated feature films

List of motion picture topics

Wire frame model

Motion graphic design

Motion capture

Model sheet

References

Further reading

Anderson, Joseph and Barbara, "The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited", ''Journal of Film and Video'', Vol. 45, No. 1 (Spring 1993): 3-12

Culhane, Shamus, ''Animation Script to Screen''

Laybourne, Kit, ''The Animation Book''

Ledoux, Trish, Ranney, Doug, & Patten, Fred (Ed.), ''Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory and Resource Guide'', Tiger Mountain Press 1997

Lowe, Richard & Schnotz, Wolfgang (Eds) ''Learning with Animation. Research implications for design'' Cambridge University Press, 2008

Masson, Terrence, ''CG101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference'' Unique and personal histories of early computer animation production, plus a comprehensive foundation of the industry for all reading levels. ISBN 978-0-9778710-0-1

Serenko, Alexander, The development of an instrument to measure the degree of animation predisposition of agent users, Computers in Human Behavior Vol. 23, No. 1 (2007): 478-495.

Thomas, Frank and Johnston, Ollie, ''Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life'', Abbeville 1981

Walters, Faber and Helen (Ed.), ''Animation Unlimited: Innovative Short Films Since 1940'', HarperCollins Publishers, 2004

Williams, Richard, ''The Animator's Survival Kit'' ISBN 978-0-571-20228-7

Bob Godfrey and Anna Jackson, 'The Do-It-Yourself Film Animation Book' BBC Publications 1974 ISBN 978-0-563-10829-0 Now out of print but available s/hand through a range of sources such as Amazon Uk.

Lawson, Tim and Alisa Persons. ''The Magic Behind the Voices'': A Who's Who of Cartoon Voice Actors. University Press of Mississippi. 2004. (A history of cartoon voice-overs and biographies and photographs of many prominent animation voice actors.)

Ball, R., Beck, J., DeMott R., Deneroff, H., Gerstein, D., Gladstone, F., Knott, T., Leal, A., Maestri, G., Mallory, M., Mayerson, M., McCracken, H., McGuire, D., Nagel, J., Pattern, F., Pointer, R., Webb, P., Robinson, C., Ryan, W., Scott, K., Snyder, A. & Webb, G. (2004) ''Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the History of Cartoon, Anime & CGI''. Fulhamm London.: Flame Tree Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84451-140-2

Crafton, Donald (1982). ''Before Mickey''. Cambridge, Massachusetts.: The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-03083-0

Solomon, Charles (1989). ''Enchanted Drawings: The History of Animation''. New York.: Random House, Inc. ISBN 978-0-394-54684-1

External links

Experimental Animation Techniques

How An Animated Cartoon is Made

"Animando", a 12-minute film demonstrating 10 different animation techniques (and teaching how to use them).

CARTOON, the European association of animation film, organising coproduction forums and training seminars for animation professionals.

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name	Stephen Fry
birth name	Stephen John Fry
birth date	August 24, 1957
birth place	Hampstead, London, England
occupation	Actor, comedian, author, journalist, broadcaster, film director
nationality	British
years active	1981–present
partner	Daniel Cohen (1995–2010)
alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge
parents	Alan John Fry Marianne Eve Fry (née Newman)
religion	None (atheist)
title	President of Mind (2011-present) Patron of the Lip Theatre Company Patron of the Norwich Playhouse theatre Vice President of The Noël Coward Society Honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge Honorary fellow of Cardiff University Honorary president of the Cambridge University Quiz Society Rector of the University of Dundee (1992-1998)
influences	Oscar Wilde, P. G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson , Douglas Adams, Rowan Atkinson
website	http://www.stephenfry.com
signature	Stephen Fry signature.svg

Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'', and the duo also played the title roles in ''Jeeves and Wooster''.

As a solo actor, Fry played the lead in the film ''Wilde'', was Melchett in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'', starred as the title character Peter Kingdom in the ITV series ''Kingdom'', and is the host of the quiz show ''QI''. He also presented a 2008 television series ''Stephen Fry in America'', which saw him travelling across all 50 U.S. states in six episodes. Fry has a recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series ''Bones''.

Apart from his work in television, Fry has contributed columns and articles for newspapers and magazines, and has written four novels and two volumes of autobiography, ''Moab Is My Washpot'' and ''The Fry Chronicles''. He also appears frequently on BBC Radio 4, starring in the comedy series ''Absolute Power'', being a frequent guest on panel games such as ''Just a Minute'', and acting as chairman for ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', where he was one of a trio of hosts who succeeded the late Humphrey Lyttelton. Fry is also known in the UK for his audiobook recordings, particularly as reader for all seven ''Harry Potter'' novels.

Early life

Fry was born in Hampstead, London, on 24 August 1957, the son of Marianne Eve Fry (née Newman) and Alan John Fry, who was an English physicist and inventor. His maternal grandparents, Martin and Rosa Neumann, were Hungarian Jewish immigrants from Šurany, which is now in Slovakia, and his mother's aunt and cousins died in Auschwitz. Fry grew up in the village of Booton near Reepham, Norfolk, having moved from Chesham, Buckinghamshire at a young age.

Fry briefly attended Cawston Primary School, Cawston, Norfolk, described later in his 1997 book ''Moab Is My Washpot'', before going on to Stouts Hill Preparatory School at the age of seven, and then to Uppingham School, Rutland, where he joined Fircroft house. He was expelled from Uppingham when he was 15, and subsequently from Paston School.

At 17, after leaving Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, Fry absconded with a credit card stolen from a family friend, was arrested in Swindon, and as a result spent three months in Pucklechurch Prison on remand.

Following his release he resumed education at City College Norwich, promising administrators that he would study rigorously to sit the Cambridge entrance exams. He passed well enough to gain a scholarship to Queens' College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Fry joined the Cambridge Footlights, appeared on ''University Challenge'', and gained a degree in English literature. It was at the Footlights that Fry met his future comedy collaborator Hugh Laurie.

Career

Television

Fry's career in television began with the 1982 broadcasting of ''The Cellar Tapes'', the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue which was written by Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. The revue caught the attention of Granada Television, who, keen to replicate the success of the BBC's ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'', hired Fry, Laurie and Thompson to star alongside Ben Elton in ''There's Nothing to Worry About!.'' A second series, re-titled ''Alfresco'', was broadcast in 1983 and a third in 1984; it established Fry and Laurie's reputation as a comedy double act. In 1983, the BBC offered them their own show, which became ''The Crystal Cube'', a mixture of science fiction and mockumentary that was axed after the first episode. Undeterred, Fry and Laurie appeared in an episode of ''The Young Ones'' in 1984, and Fry in Ben Elton's 1985 series, ''Happy Families''. In 1986 and 1987 Fry and Laurie also performed sketches on the LWT/Channel 4 show ''Saturday Live''.

Forgiving Fry and Laurie for ''The Crystal Cube'', the BBC commissioned a sketch show in 1986 that was to become ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie''. The programme ran for 26 episodes spanning four series between 1986 and 1995, and was very successful. During this time Fry starred in ''Blackadder II'' as Lord Melchett, made a guest appearance in ''Blackadder the Third'' as the Duke of Wellington, then returned to a starring role in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' as General Melchett. In 1988, he became a regular contestant on the popular improvisational comedy radio show ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. However, when it moved to television, he only appeared three times: twice in the first series and once in the ninth.

Between 1990 and 1993, Fry starred as Jeeves (alongside Hugh Laurie's Bertie Wooster) in ''Jeeves and Wooster'', 23 hour-long adaptations of P.G. Wodehouse's novels and short stories.

In 1998 BBC Two aired a Malcolm Bradbury adaptation of the Mark Tavener 1989 novel, ''In the Red'' with Fry taking the part of the Controller of BBC Radio 2.

In 2000, Fry played the role of Professor Bellgrove in the BBC serial ''Gormenghast'' which was an adaptation of the first two novels of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast series.

In 2010 he filmed a cameo role in ''Ros na Rún'', an Irish language soap opera broadcast in Ireland, Scotland and the United States. Fry learned Irish for the role. He also came together with Laurie for a retrospective of their partnership titled ''Fry and Laurie Reunited''.

In 2010 Fry took part in a Christmas series of Short Films called 'Little Crackers'. Fry's short is based on a story from his childhood at school.

''QI''

In 2003, Fry began hosting the TV game show ''QI'' (Quite Interesting), a British comedy panel game television quiz show. ''QI'' was created and co-produced by John Lloyd, and features permanent panellist Alan Davies. ''QI'' has the highest viewing figures for any show on BBC Four and UKTV G2 (now Dave). In 2006, Fry won the Rose d'Or award for "Best Game Show Host" for his work on the series.

Other series

A foray into documentary-making has seen Fry fronting the Emmy Award-winning ''The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive'' in 2006, and in 2007 a documentary on the subject of HIV and AIDS, ''HIV and Me''. Also in 2006, he appeared in the genealogy series ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', tracing his family tree to discover his Jewish ancestry. His six-part travel series ''Stephen Fry in America'' began on BBC One on 12 October 2008. In May 2008, it was announced that a five-part companion series, ''More Fry in America'', had been commissioned for BBC Four; it was to feature in-depth essays excluded from the first series due to time constraints. No further information about the project has since been released.

Fry has also been involved in nature documentaries, having narrated ''Spectacled Bears: Shadow of the Forest'' for the BBC ''Natural World'' series in 2008. In the television series ''Last Chance to See'', Fry together with zoologist Mark Carwardine sought out endangered species, some of which were featured in Douglas Adams and Carwardine's 1990 book/radio series of the of the same name. The resulting programmes were broadcast in 2009.

From 2007 to 2009, Fry appeared in and was executive producer for the legal drama ''Kingdom'', which ran for three series on ITV1. He has also taken up a recurring guest role as psychiatrist Dr. Gordon Wyatt in the popular American drama ''Bones''.

On 7 May 2008, Fry gave a speech as part of a series of BBC lectures on the future of public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, which he later recorded for a podcast.

Fry narrates the English language version of the Spanish children's animated series ''Pocoyo''. Fry appeared on ''Room 101'' in 2001, in episode 10 of series 6.

Film

Having made his film debut in the 1985 film ''The Good Father'', Fry had a brief appearance in ''A Fish Called Wanda'' (in which he is knocked out by Kevin Kline, who is posing as an airport security man) and then appeared in the lead role for Kenneth Branagh's ''Peter's Friends'' in 1992. In the 1994 romantic comedy film ''I.Q.'', he played the role of James Moreland. Portraying Oscar Wilde (a man of whom he had been a fan since the age of 13) in the 1997 film ''Wilde'', he fulfilled to critical acclaim a role that he has said he was "born to play". A year later, Fry starred in David Yates' small independent film ''The Tichborne Claimant'', and in 2001 he played the detective in Robert Altman's period costume drama, ''Gosford Park''. In the same year he also appeared in the Dutch film ''The Discovery of Heaven'', directed by Jeroen Krabbé and based on the novel by Harry Mulisch.

In 2003, Fry made his directorial debut with ''Bright Young Things'', adapted by himself from Evelyn Waugh's ''Vile Bodies''. In 2001, he began hosting the BAFTA Film Awards, a role from which he stepped down in 2006. Later that same year, he wrote the English libretto and dialogue for Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of ''The Magic Flute''.

Fry continues to make regular film appearances, notably in treatments of literary cult classics. He portrayed Maurice Woodruff in ''The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'', served as narrator in the 2005 film version of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'', and in 2005 he appeared in both ''A Cock and Bull Story'', based on ''Tristram Shandy'', and as a non-conforming TV Presenter who challenges the fascist state in ''V for Vendetta''. In 2006, he played the role of gadget-master Smithers in ''Stormbreaker'', and in 2007 he appeared as himself hosting a quiz in ''St Trinian's''. In 2007, Fry wrote a script for a remake of ''The Dam Busters'' for director Peter Jackson.

In 2008, he participated in a film celebrating the 25th anniversary of GNU, ''Happy Birthday to GNU''. Fry was offered a role in ''Valkyrie'' but was unable to participate. Fry starred in the Tim Burton version of ''Alice in Wonderland'', as the voice of The Cheshire Cat. He will play Mycroft Holmes in the sequel to ''Sherlock Holmes'' directed by Guy Ritchie. In 2010, Fry provided the voice of Socrates the Lion in the environmental animated film ''Animals United''. He will portray the Master of Lake-town in the 2012 film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Hobbit.''

Radio

Fry came to the attention of radio listeners with the 1986 creation of his supposed alter-ego, Donald Trefusis, whose "wireless essays" were broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Loose Ends''. In the 1980s he starred as David Lander in four series of the BBC Radio 4 show ''Delve Special'', written by Tony Sarchet, which became a six part Channel 4 series ''This is David Lander'' in 1988. In 1988, Fry wrote and presented a six-part comedy series entitled ''Saturday Night Fry''; frequent radio appearances have ensued (notably on panel games ''Just a Minute'' and ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue''). In 2000, he began starring as Charles Prentiss in the Radio 4 comedy ''Absolute Power'', reprising the role for three further series on radio and two on television. In 2002, Fry voiced Winnie-the-Pooh and was one of the narrators in ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' and ''The House at Pooh Corner'', both written by A.A Milne. He presented a weekly, 20 x 120-minute series, "The Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music", a 'witty guide' to the genre over the past 1,000 years, on Classic FM.

In 2007, he hosted ''Current Puns'', an exploration of wordplay, and ''Radio 4: This Is Your Life'', to celebrate the radio station's 40th anniversary. He also interviewed Tony Blair as part of a series of podcasts released by 10 Downing Street.

In February 2008, Fry began presenting podcasts entitled ''Stephen Fry's Podgrams'', in which he recounts his life and recent experiences. In July 2008, Fry appeared as himself in ''I Love Stephen Fry'', an ''Afternoon Play'' for Radio 4 written by former ''Fry and Laurie'' script editor Jon Canter.

Since August 2008 he has presented ''Fry's English Delight'', a series on BBC Radio 4 about the English language. As of 2011, it has been running for four series and 15 episodes.

In the summer 2009 series of ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', Fry was one of a trio of hosts replacing Humphrey Lyttelton (the others being Jack Dee and Rob Brydon).

He also lends his voice to the introduction and stings for Phill Jupitus' fortnightly podcast, ''The Perfect Ten''.

Theatre

Fry wrote a play entitled ''Latin! or Tobacco and Boys'' for the 1980 Edinburgh Festival, where it won the Fringe First prize. It had a revival in 2009 at London's Cock Tavern Theatre, directed by Adam Spreadbury-Maher. ''The Cellar Tapes'', the Footlights Revue of 1981, won the Perrier Comedy Award. In 1984, Fry adapted the hugely successful 1930s musical, ''Me and My Girl'', for the West End, where it ran for eight years. He was also cast in a lead role in Simon Gray's 1995 play, ''Cell Mates'', which he left three days into the West End run, pleading stage fright. He later recalled the incident as a hypomanic episode in his documentary on bipolar disorder. In 2007, Fry wrote a Christmas pantomime, ''Cinderella'', which ran at London's Old Vic Theatre. Fry is a long-time fan of the 1960s anarchic British musical comedy group, the ''Bonzo Dog Band'' and, particularly, of its eccentric front man, the late Vivian Stanshall. Fry helped to fund an ill-fated 1988 London re-staging of the Stanshall's acclaimed ''Stinkfoot, a Comic Opera'', written by Vivian and Ki Longfellow-Stanshall for the Bristol-based Old Profanity Showboat. Fry performed several of Stanshall's numbers as part of the Bonzo's 26 January 2006 reunion concert at the London Astoria. He also appears as a shiny New Millennium Bonzo on their post-reunion album, ''Pour l'Amour des Chiens'', including his reciting of a recipe for "Salmon Proust", playing a butler in "Hawkeye the Gnu", and voicing ads for the fictitious "Fiasco" stores.

Following three one-man shows in Australia, Fry announced a "sort of stand-up" performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London for September 2010.

Audio books

Stephen Fry has been the reader for the British versions of all of J.K.Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series of audio books. He discussed this project in an interview with J.K. Rowling in 2005. Fry has also been the reader for Douglas Adams's ''The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy'' film tie-in edition. He has also made recordings of his own books, such as ''The Stars' Tennis Balls''; and works by Roald Dahl, Michael Bond, A. A. Milne, and Anthony Buckeridge.

Video games

Fry's distinctive voice has been featured in a number of video games, including an appearance as Reaver, a main character in Lionhead Studios games ''Fable II'' and ''Fable III'', and as the narrator in ''LittleBigPlanet'' and its sequel on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. He also served as narrator on the first four ''Harry Potter'' games (''Philosopher's Stone'', ''Chamber of Secrets'', ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' and the ''Goblet of Fire'').

Advertisements

Fry has lent himself and his voice to many advertisements, starting with an appearance as "Count Ivan Skavinsky Skavar" in a 1982 advert for Whitbread Best Bitter. Fry has said in his memoirs that after receiving his payment for this work – £25,000 – he has never subsequently experienced "what one could call serious money troubles". He has since appeared in adverts for products such as Marks and Spencer, Twinings, Kenco, Vauxhall, Direct Line, Calpol, Heineken, Alliance & Leicester, After Eights, Trebor, Panama cigars and Orange Mobile.

Literature

Since the publication of his first novel, ''The Liar'' (1991), Fry has written three additional novels, several non-fiction works and two volumes of autobiography. ''Making History'' (1997) is partly set in an alternative universe where Adolf Hitler's father is made infertile and his replacement proves a rather more effective Führer. The book won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. ''The Hippopotamus'' (1994) is about Edward (Ted/Tedward) Wallace and his stay at his old friend Lord Logan's country manor in Norfolk. ''The Stars' Tennis Balls'' (2000) is a modern retelling of ''The Count of Monte Cristo''. Fry's book, ''The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within'', is a guide to writing poetry.

When writing a book review for ''Tatler'', Fry wrote under a ''nom de plume'', Williver Hendry, editor of ''A Most Peculiar Friendship: The Correspondence of Lord Alfred Douglas and Jack Dempsey'', a field close to Fry's heart as an Oscar Wilde enthusiast. Once a columnist in ''The Listener'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'', he now writes a weekly technology column in the Saturday edition of ''The Guardian''. His blog attracted more than 300,000 visitors in its first two weeks of existence.

On 26 May 2009, Fry unveiled ''The Dongle of Donald Trefusis'', an audiobook series following the character Donald Trefusis (a character from Fry's novel ''The Liar'' and from the BBC Radio 4 series ''Loose Ends''), set over 12 episodes. After its release, it reached No. 1 on the UK Album Chart list.

On 2 January 2010 it was announced that Fry was "switching off his connections with the outside world" in order to complete a second volume of his autobiography.

Fry's use of the word "luvvie" in ''The Guardian'' on 2 April 1988 is given by the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as the earliest recorded use of the word.

Football

On 13 August 2010, Fry joined the Board of Directors at Norwich City Football Club. A lifelong fan of "the Canaries" and regular visitor to Carrow Road, he said on being appointed "Truly this is one of the most exciting days of my life and I am as proud and pleased as I could be."

Twitter

Fry wields a considerable amount of influence through his use of the social networking site Twitter. He is frequently asked to promote various charities and causes, often inadvertently causing their websites to crash because of the sheer volume of traffic generated by his large number of followers, as Fry notes on his website: "Four thousand hits a second all diving down the pipeline at the same time for minutes on end." Fry uses his influence to recommend underexposed musicians and authors (which often see large increases in web hits and sales) and to spread contemporary issues in the world of media and politics, notably the dropping of an injunction against ''The Guardian'' and the lambasting of ''Daily Mail'' columnist Jan Moir over her article on deceased Boyzone member Stephen Gately.

In October 2009 Fry sparked debate amongst users again when he announced an intention to leave the social networking site after criticism from another user on Twitter. He retracted the intention the next day. In October 2010, Fry left Twitter for a few days following press criticism of a quote taken from an interview he had given, with a farewell message of "Bye bye". After returning, Fry explained that he had left Twitter to "avoid being sympathised with or told about an article I would otherwise never have got wind of".

In November 2009 Fry's Twitter account reached 1,000,000 followers. He commemorated the million followers milestone with a humorous video blog in which a 'Step Hen Fry' clone speaks from the year 2034 where MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have combined to form 'Twit on MyFace'.

In November 2010 Fry achieved 2,000,000 followers on Twitter. He welcomed his 2 millionth follower, mobijack, with a blog entry describing Fry's view of the pros and cons of this form of communication.

Acclaim

In 1995, Fry was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee, which named their main Students' Association bar after his novel ''The Liar''. Fry is a patron of its Lip Theatre Company. He also served two consecutive terms—1992 to 1995 and 1995 to 1998—as the student-elected Rector of the University of Dundee. Fry is considered to have been one of the most popular rectors the University has had, and was noted for his work to promote the University and his efforts to represent its students on the University Court. Such was his popularity was unoppossed when he sought re-election to office in 1995, and by the time he completed his second term in office he had won the widespread admiration of the University's staff and students. He was awarded the AoC Gold Award in 2004, and was entered into their hall of fame. Fry was also awarded an honorary degree from Anglia Ruskin University of Cambridge, England in 2005. and was also made honorary president of the Cambridge University Quiz Society and honorary fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. He is a Patron of the Norwich Playhouse theatre and a Vice President of The Noël Coward Society. Fry was the last person to be named Pipe Smoker of the Year before the award was discontinued. On 13 July 2010, he was made an honorary fellow of Cardiff University and on 28 January 2011 he was awarded an honorary doctorate at the University of Sussex for his work campaigning for people suffering from mental health problems, bipolar disorder and HIV.

In December 2006 he was ranked sixth for the BBC's Top Living Icon Award, was featured on ''The Culture Show'', and was voted ''Most Intelligent Man on Television'' by readers of ''Radio Times''. The ''Independent on Sunday'' Pink List named Fry the second most influential gay person in Britain in May 2007. He had taken the twenty-third position on the list the previous year. Later the same month he was announced as the 2007 ''Mind Champion of the Year'' That same year, ''Broadcast'' magazine listed Fry at number four in its "Hot 100" list of influential on-screen performers, describing him as a polymath and a "national treasure". He was also granted a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards on 5 December 2007 and the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards on 20 January 2010.

BBC Four dedicated two nights of programming to Fry on 17 and 18 August 2007, in celebration of his 50th birthday. The first night, comprising programs featuring Fry, began with a sixty-minute documentary entitled ''Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out''. The second night was composed of programs selected by Fry, as well as a 60-minute interview with Mark Lawson and a half-hour special, ''Stephen Fry: Guilty''. The weekend programming proved such a ratings hit for BBC Four that it was repeated on BBC Two on the 16th and 17 September 2007.

In 2011, he was the subject of Molly Lewis' song ''An Open Letter to Stephen Fry'', in which the singer jokingly offers herself to be the surrogate mother for his child. In February 2011, Fry was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, the Harvard Secular Society and the American Humanist Association.

Views on religion

Fry has repeatedly expressed opposition to organised religion and has identified himself as an atheist, while declaring some sympathy for the ancient Greek belief in capricious gods. In his first autobiography he wrote, "I knew I couldn't believe in God, because I was fundamentally Hellenic in my outlook." He has accepted that religion can have positive effects, "Sometimes belief means credulity, sometimes an expression of faith and hope which even the most sceptical atheist such as myself cannot but find inspiring." In 2009 he and Christopher Hitchens participated in an "Intelligence Squared" debate in which they argued against Ann Widdecombe and Archbishop John Onaiyekan, who supported the view that the Catholic Church was a force for good. Fry and Hitchens argued that the church did more harm than good. Fry attacked the Catholic Church's teachings on sexuality and denounced its wealth.

On 15 September 2010, Fry, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''The Guardian'', stating their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom being a state visit.

On 22 February 2011, Fry was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Cultural Humanism by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, joining a list of previous honorees including novelist Salman Rushdie, screenwriter Joss Whedon, and Mythbusters Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.

Personal life

Fry struggled to keep his homosexuality secret during his teenage years at public school, and has claimed not to have engaged in sexual activity for 16 years from 1979 until 1995. When asked when he first acknowledged his sexuality, Fry quipped: "I suppose it all began when I came out of the womb. I looked back up at my mother and thought to myself, 'That's the last time I'm going up one of those.'" Fry was in a 14-year relationship with Daniel Cohen, which ended in 2010. Stephen Fry has stated that he is 90% homosexual, but has been attracted to women on occasion.

Fry has a home in London and another in Hollywood. He also has a home near King's Lynn, Norfolk. When in London, Fry drives a black TX4 London cab.

Fry was an active supporter of the Labour Party for many years, and appeared in a party political broadcast on its behalf with Hugh Laurie and Michelle Collins in November 1993. Despite this, he did not vote in the 2005 General Election because of the stance of both the Labour and Conservative parties with regard to the Iraq War. Despite his praising of the Blair/Brown government for social reform, Fry has been critical of the Labour Party's "Third Way" concept. Fry appeared in literature to support changing the British electoral system from first-past-the-post to alternative vote for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons in the Alternative Vote referendum in 2011.

He is on cordial terms with Prince Charles (despite a mild parody Fry performed in his role of King Charles I in the comedy programme ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years''), through his work with the Prince's Trust. He attended the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005.

Fry is a friend of British comedian and actor (and ''Blackadder'' co-star) Rowan Atkinson and was best man at Atkinson's wedding to Sunetra Sastry at the Russian Tea Room in New York City. Fry was a friend of British actor John Mills.

His best friend is Hugh Laurie, whom he met while both were at Cambridge and with whom he has collaborated many times over the years. He was best man at Laurie's wedding and is godfather to all three of his children.

A fan of cricket, Fry has claimed to be related to former England cricketer C.B. Fry, and was recently interviewed for the ''Ashes Fever'' DVD, reporting on England's victory over Australia in the 2005 Ashes series. Regarding football, he is a supporter of Norwich City (as mentioned in ''Ashes Fever''), and is a regular visitor to Carrow Road. Fry's sister, Jo Crocker, was assistant director on ''Bright Young Things''.

He has been described as "deeply dippy for all things digital", claims to have bought the third Macintosh computer sold in the UK (his friend Douglas Adams bought the first two) and jokes that he has never encountered a smartphone that he has not bought. He counts Wikipedia among his favourite websites "because I like to find out that I died, and that I'm currently in a ballet in China, and all the other very accurate and important things that Wikipedia brings us all."

Fry has a long interest in Internet production, including his own website since 1997. His current site, ''The New Adventures of Mr Stephen Fry'', has existed since 2002 and has attracted many visitors following his first blog in September 2007, which comprised a 6,500 word "blessay" on smartphones. In February 2008, Fry launched his private podcast series, ''Stephen Fry's Podgrams'', and a forum, including discussions on depression and activities in which Fry is involved. The website content is created by Stephen Fry and produced by Andrew Sampson. Fry is also a supporter of GNU and the Free Software Foundation. For the 25th anniversary of the GNU operating system, Fry appeared in a video explaining some of the philosophy behind GNU by likening it to the sharing found in science. In October 2008, he began posting to his Twitter stream, which he regularly updates. On 16 May 2009, he celebrated the 500,000-follower mark: "Bless my soul 500k followers. And I love you all. Well, all except that silly one. And that's not you."

On 30 April 2008, Fry signed an open letter, published in ''The Guardian'' newspaper by some well known Jewish personalities, stating their opposition to celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. Furthermore, he is a signatory member of the British Jews for Justice for Palestinians organisation, which campaigns for Palestinian rights.

A year later, ''The Guardian'' published a letter from Fry addressing his younger self, explaining how his future is soon to unfold, reflecting on the positive progression towards gay acceptance and openness around him, and yet not everywhere, while warning on how "the cruel, hypocritical and loveless hand of religion and absolutism has fallen on the world once more".

Fry was among over 100 signatories to a statement published by Sense About Science on 4 June 2009, condemning British libel laws and their use to "severely curtail the right to free speech on a matter of public interest."

In February 2010, he was made a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association, stating: "it is essential to nail one’s colours to the mast as a humanist."

Poland controversy

On 6 October 2009, Fry was interviewed by Jon Snow on ''Channel 4 News'' as a signatory of a letter to British Conservative Party leader David Cameron expressing concern about the party's relationship with Poland's opposition national conservative Law and Justice party in the European Parliament. During the interview, he stated: The remark prompted a complaint from the Polish Embassy in London, an editorial in ''The Economist'' and criticism from British Jewish historian David Cesarani. Fry has since posted an apology in a six-page post on his personal blog, in which he stated:{{bquote|I offer no excuse. I seemed to imply that the Polish people had been responsible for the most infamous of all the death factories of the Third Reich. I didn't even really at the time notice the import of what I had said, so gave myself no opportunity instantly to retract the statement. It was a rubbishy, cheap and offensive remark that I have been regretting ever since.

I take this opportunity to apologise now. I said a stupid, thoughtless and fatuous thing. It detracted from and devalued my argument, such as it was, and it outraged and offended a large group of people for no very good reason. I am sorry in all directions, and all the more sorry because it is no one's fault but my own, which always makes it so much worse.}}

Atomic bombing survivor controversy

On an episode of the BBC comedy quiz program ''QI'', Fry brought up and other guests joked about the fate of Tsutomu Yamaguchi, who survived both atomic bombings of Japan, whom Fry termed "the unluckiest man in the world". As a result of this broadcast there was considerable criticism in Japan, the BBC made an apology, and Fry cancelled a trip to Japan.

Health

Fry has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, specifically stating he suffers from Cyclothymia, referring to it as "bipolar lite". He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1995 while appearing in a West End play called ''Cell Mates'' and subsequently walked out of the production, prompting its early closure and incurring the displeasure of co-star Rik Mayall and playwright Simon Gray. Mayall's comedy partner, Adrian Edmondson, made light of the subject in his and Mayall's second ''Bottom'' live show. After walking out of the production, Fry went missing for several days while contemplating suicide. He abandoned the idea and left the United Kingdom by ferry, eventually resurfacing in Belgium.

Fry has spoken publicly about his experience with bipolar disorder, which was also depicted in the documentary ''Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive''. In the programme, he interviewed other sufferers of the illness including Carrie Fisher, Richard Dreyfuss and Tony Slattery. Also featured were chef Rick Stein, whose father committed suicide, Robbie Williams, who talks of his experience with major depression, and comedienne/former mental health nurse Jo Brand. He is also involved with the mental health charity Stand to Reason.

In 2009, Fry lent his support to a campaign led by the human rights organisation Reprieve to prevent the execution of Akmal Shaikh, a British national who suffered from bipolar disorder, yet, despite calls for clemency, was executed in the People's Republic of China for drug trafficking.

In January 2008, he broke his arm while filming ''Last Chance to See'' in Brazil. He later explained in a podcast how the accident happened: while climbing aboard a boat, he slipped between it and the dock, and, while stopping himself from falling into the water, his body weight caused his right humerus to snap. The damage was more severe than first thought: the resulting vulnerability to his radial nerve—he was at risk of losing the use of his arm—was not diagnosed until he saw a consultant in the UK.

As the host of ''QI'', Fry has revealed that he is allergic to both champagne and bumble bee stings.

Appearing on ''Top Gear'' in 2009, Fry had lost a significant amount of weight, prompting host Jeremy Clarkson to ask jokingly, "Where's the rest of you?" Fry explained that he had shed a total of , attributing the weight loss to doing a lot of walking while listening to downloaded Audiobooks.

Fry is to , in height.

Business

In 2008, Fry formed SamFry Ltd, with long-term collaborator Andrew Sampson, to produce and fund new content, as well as manage his official website.

Bibliography

References

External links

Five Minutes With: Stephen Fry, interview with Matthew Stadlen for the BBC

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Ophélie Kleerekoper-Winter (born 20 February 1974 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French singer and actress.

Biography

Her father David Alexandre Winter, was a Dutch pop singer during the 1970s, while her mother was a French fashion model, who is now her agent. Her brother Michael is a singer and TV-presenter.

Winter moved to the United States to be close to her father after her parents divorced when she was just 2 years old. It was in the United States that Winter studied dance, singing, music, and acting. At the age of 17, she left for Paris where she lived with her mother and brother. It was there she was discovered by a modeling agent on the Champs-Élysées, and after three years of modeling, she decided to become a singer and an actress. The singer Prince wrote her a song.

She currently resides in Paris making various TV appearances. Her look-alike puppet is in the French show "Les Guignols de l'info" (1988).

Singing career

Her desire to become a singer began after a friend of her father's, who was also a singer, was looking for a young female to join him in a duet. Winter accepted and began recording. She now has released four albums: ''No Soucy!'', which her brother collaborated on, ''Privacy'', ''Explicit Lyrics'' and ''Résurrection''.

Discography

''No Soucy !'' (1996)

* Released singles :

"Le feu qui m'attise" ("The Air That I Breathe"); "Dieu m'a donné la foi" ("Living In Me"); "Shame on U"; "Rien que pour lui"; "Keep It on the Red Light" (feat. Coolio)

''Privacy'' (1998)

* Released singles : "Je marche à l'envers" ("I Spy"); "Elle pleure" ("Cry"); "Je cours" ("Up Where I Belong"); "Ce que je suis" ("What a Girl Wants")

''Explicit Lyrics'' (2002)

* Released singles : "Sache"; "Tout le monde le fait"; "Yeah yeah yeah"

''Résurrection'' (2009)

* Released singles : "Affection"; "BB t'es mon sunshine (Sunshine Remix)"

Filmography

''Hommes, Femmes, Mode D'Emploi'' (''Men, Women: A User's Manual'') (1996)

''Tout Doit Disparaitre'' (''Everything Must Go'') (1997)

''Bouge!'' (''Move!'') (1997)

''Folle D'Elle'' (''Crazy About Her'') (1999)

''2001: A Space Travesty'' (2000)

''She'' (2001)

''Les Jolies Choses'' (2001)

''Ma Femme Est Une Actrice'' (2001)

''Mauvais Esprit'' (''Mean Spirit'') (2003)

References

External links

Official website (in French & English)

Ophélie Winter at Myspace

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:People from Boulogne-Billancourt Category:French pop singers Category:French female singers Category:French film actors Category:French people of Dutch descent

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Émile Cohl (January 4, 1857, Paris – January 20, 1938), born Émile Eugène Jean Louis Courtet, was a French caricaturist of the largely forgotten Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon" and "The Oldest Parisian".

Biography

Émile's father Elie was a rubber salesman, and his mother, Emilie Laure, was a linen seamstress. The rubber factory Elie worked for had many ups and downs, causing the family to move from one home in Paris to another.

Early years

Émile saw little of his father during his childhood, and was over-protected by his ailing mother until her death in 1863. In 1864, at the age of 7, he was enrolled at the Ecole professionnelle de Pantin, a boarding school known as the Institute Vaudron after its founder. There his artistic talents were discovered and encouraged. The next year, a cold kept him in his father's apartment, where he began stamp collecting, a hobby that would become his sole source of income several times in his life.

The chaos caused by the Franco-Prussian War and the following siege of Paris led to the closing of Elie Courtet's factory. Émile was transferred to the less-exclusive Ecole Turgot, but his lessons were soon forgotten as the teenager wandered the streets of Paris to watch history being made. He made two discoveries that in time that became the controlling elements of his life: ''Guignol'' puppet theater and political caricature. ''Guignol'' was a form of drama (usually involving love triangles) where the characters were played by marionettes. A subtype of the ''Guignol'' was ''Fantoche'', a form of puppetry where the puppeteer's head was stuck through a hole in a black sheet with a small puppet body underneath.

Political caricature had begun in France during the Second Empire, but had been suppressed by Napoleon III. During the free-for-all weeks of the Commune (all eleven of them), the caricaturists were free to post broadsheets on the streets for all to see. The center of this activity was the Rue du Croissant, only blocks from the Ecole Turgot.

In 1872, Elie Courtet placed his 15-year-old son in a three-year apprenticeship with a jeweler. Émile drew caricatures, enlisted in the Cherbourg regiment, and drew some more. Elie placed him with a maritime insurance broker. Émile left the broker, got a much poorer-paying job with a philatelist and declared his preference for drawing, the Bohemian lifestyle, and if necessary, going hungry.

Years with André Gill

In 1878, Émile obtained a letter of recommendation from Étienne Carjat to approach André Gill, the best-known caricaturist of the day, for a job. Gill had made his fame a decade earlier by publishing ''La Lune'', a periodical critical of Napoleon III. His presses were smashed and he was incarcerated. He started ''La Lune Rousse'' in 1876 to continue his work. By this time, he had moved beyond attacking individuals to making observations on the ludicrousness of conformist bourgeois values in general. However, the government was becoming increasingly liberal, leaving him with few big-name targets. As a result, ''La Lune Rousse'' closed in 1879.

Émile Courtet's job as one of several assistants to Gill was to complete the backgrounds; he may have done a few of the illustrations by himself. During this process, the young man developed a style of caricature based on Gill's. Gill's trademark was the large, recognizable head of the target (with a fairly benign expression) atop a small puppet body (doing something ridiculous). Clearly, it was based on ''Fantoche'' puppetry. Émile took this style and added touches to suggest movement and imagery from the rest of ''Guignol'' puppetry. At about this time he adopted the pseudonym of ''Émile Cohl''. The meaning of "Cohl" is obscure: it may be from the pigment known as "kohl", or perhaps it means that Émile stuck to his mentor Gill like glue ("''colle''" in French). Perhaps it was chosen because it sounded exotic. The visual signature of a paste-pot appears in a few of Cohl's caricatures.

Thiers was succeeded as president by Patrice MacMahon, duc de Magenta, a conservative monarchist who had been at Sedan. He became steadily less popular under the assault of caricatures. One of these, "Aveugle par Ac-Sedan", a French pun on "accidentally blind" and "Bungler at Sedan", put its creator, Émile Cohl, in jail on October 11, 1879, making him instantly famous. Three months later, MacMahon resigned in disgrace—the caricaturists liked to believe that they were responsible. He was succeeded by Jules Grévy, who transferred real power from the post of president to the prime minister and legislature. This led to a period of internal stability and prosperity for France.

Through Gill, Cohl had become acquainted with an artistic circle calling themselves the Hydropathes. The group was united by various "modern" ideas and a love of poetry. The group, like many others of the time, based most of their activities on shocking people. As a result of his new-found fame, Cohl was named editor of the group's spokes-piece, ''L'Hydropathe'', on October 28, 1879. At about this time Émile's estranged father died, leaving him a modest legacy. Émile Cohl set out to discover his abilities, writing and producing two satiric plays that did very poorly. The co-author of both plays was Norés (pseudonym of Edouard Norés), an American who had been an architect before giving up his former life for Bohemianism on the banks of the Seine. Besides a strong friendship, Norés taught Cohl English, a useful skill later on.

End of the Hydropathes

Émile Cohl married on November 12, 1881; his wife later left him for an author. At the same time, André Gill was committed to the Charenton mental asylum. He managed to recover in a few months and in 1882 submitted his first serious painting, "Le Fou" (The Madman) to the Salon. The painting's poor reception by the artists of the Salon sent him back to Charenton.

Meanwhile, the Hydropathes had disbanded in 1882. Their place in Cohl's life was replaced by the Incoherents. The group was founded by Jules Lévy, who coined the phrase "les arts incohérents" as a contrast to the common expression "les arts décoratifs". The Incoherents were even less politically minded than the Hydropathes. Their slogan was "Gaity is properly French, so let's be French". The focus was absurdism, nightmares, and the drawing style of children. Cohl's Incoherent art joined his caricatures and satiric news reporting at ''La Nouvelle Lune'', where he had become the major contributor and acting editor. He became editor in chief on November 30, 1883.

By November 1883, the Incoherents had become so big that an exhibit was arranged at the Vivienne Gallery, open to the public. It was called "an exhibition of drawings by people who do not know how to draw." Émile Cohl's contribution was titled ''Portrait garanti ressemblant'' (Portrait—Resemblance Guaranteed). The exhibit accepted any and all entries, so long as they were not obscene or serious. The public was taken with the show, and the profits were donated to public assistance. There was a second show in 1884, and the 1885 show was replaced by a masked ball (Cohl went as an artichoke). In 1886, Cohl produced his most bizarre and characteristic work in the Incoherent vein: ''Abus des metaphors'', a collection of more than a dozen colorful expressions brought to life.

Death of André Gill

Cohl's personal life was nowhere as rosy as his professional life would suggest, despite the birth of his daughter Marcelle Andrée in May 1883. André Gill never recovered his sanity, and after a few months Charenton seized his property and drawings, auctioning them off to pay their bills. Cohl was unable to keep his hero in the public eye. André Gill died on May Day, 1885, with only Cohl by his side. Cohl never forgot Gill's desertion by his friends and the public. The Incoherent movement collapsed in 1888.

After the collapse of his marriage, Cohl moved to London to work for ''Pick Me Up'', a humor magazine that specialized in French artists (he left his long-standing second job as a philatelist at this time). He returned to Paris in June 1896 and married Suzanne Delpy, the daughter of one of André Gill's followers. Their son André Jean was born on November 8, 1899. By this time, Cohl had moved away from caricature, sending humorous drawings to bicycle magazines, family magazines, and children's magazines. He also wrote articles on French history, stamps, and fishing. In July 1898 he started contributing to ''L'Illustré National''. This would be the origin of Cohl's comic strips. At the same time, Cohl's art moved from scene-setting to story-telling, and from the Gill ''fantoche'' style to Impressionism. Other interests during this period included puzzles, toys (he invented a few new ones), and drawings of figures made from wax matches. In the political arena, he submitted anti-Dreyfus illustrations to ''La Libre Parole Illustrée''.

Motion pictures

By 1907, the 50-year-old Émile Cohl, like everyone else in Paris, had become aware of motion pictures. How he actually entered the business is shrouded in legend. According to Jean-Georges Auriol in a book of 1930, one day Cohl was walking down the street when he spotted a poster advertising a movie obviously stolen from one of his strips. Outraged, he confronted the manager of the offending studio (Gaumont) and was hired on the spot as a scenarist (responsible for one-page story ideas for movies). The story is rather doubtful in the detail of which strip and which short film; it is also possible that the story is completely false, and that Cohl was approached for the job, either by director Etienne Arnaud or by artistic director Louis Feuillade, both of whom had once worked for caricature papers and therefore could be expected to know Cohl by reputation if not personally.

At Gaumont, Cohl collaborated with the other directors whenever possible, learning cinematography from Arnaud and directing chases, comedies, ''féeries'' ("fairy pieces"), and pageants. But his specialty was animation. He worked in a corner of the studio with a vertically mounted Gaumont camera and a single assistant to operate it. He turned out four sequences a month for insertion in mostly live action films. Studio director Léon Gaumont, in one of his visits, dubbed him "the Benedictine".

The idea for doing animation was born from the huge success of the film "The Haunted Hotel", released by Vitagraph and directed by J. Stuart Blackton. It premiered in Paris in April 1907 and immediately there was a demand for more films using its incredible object animation techniques. According to a story told by Arnaud in 1922, Gaumont had ordered his staff to figure out the "mystery of 'The Haunted Hotel'." Cohl studied the film frame by frame, and in this way discovered the techniques of animation. It should be noted that Cohl, who was always seeking to enlarge his reputation in later life, never corroborated this story. Also, there were a fair number of films released before 1907 with stop-motion and/or drawn animation in them, by Blackton and others, any one of which could have taught Cohl animation, if he didn't just work the technique out on his own. The only reason "The Haunted Hotel" is significant is the fact that it was popular enough to make the arduous work of animation profitable.

Cohl made "Fantasmagorie" from February to May or June 1908. This is considered the first fully animated film ever made. It was made up of 700 drawings, each of which was double-exposed (animated "on twos"), leading to a running time of almost two minutes. Despite the short running time, the piece was packed with material devised in a "stream of consciousness" style. It borrowed from Blackton in using a "chalk-line effect" (filming black lines on white paper, then reversing the negative to make it look like white chalk on a black chalkboard), having the main character drawn by the artist's hand on camera, and the main characters of a clown and a gentleman (this taken from Blackton's "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces"). The film, in all of its wild transformations, is a direct tribute to the by-then forgotten Incoherent movement. The title is a reference to the "fantasmograph", a mid-Nineteenth Century variant of the magic lantern that projected ghostly images that floated across the walls.

"Fantasmagorie" was released on August 17, 1908. This was followed by two more films, "Le Cauchemar du fantoche" ["The Puppet's Nightmare", now lost] and "Un Drame chez les fantoches" ["A Puppet Drama", called "The Love Affair in Toyland" for American release and "Mystical Love-Making" for British release], all completed in 1908. These three films are united by their chalk-line style, the stick-figure clown protagonists, and the constant transformations. Cohl made the plots of these films up as he was filming them. He would put a drawing on the lightbox, photograph it, trace onto next sheet with slight changes, photograph that, and so on. This meant that the pictures did not jitter and the plot was spontaneous. Cohl had to calculate the timing in advance. The process was demanding and time-consuming, which is probably why he moved away from drawn animation after "Un Drame chez les fantoches".

The rest of the films Cohl made for Gaumont involve strange transformations ("Les Joyeaux Microbes" ["The Joyous Microbes", aka "The Merry Microbes" (UK)] (1909)), some great matte effects ("Clair de lune espagnol" ["Spanish Moonlight", aka "The Man in the Moon" (US), aka "The Moon-Struck Matador" (UK)] (1909)), and loving puppet animation ("Le Tout Petit Faust" ["The Little Faust", aka "The Beautiful Margaret" (US)] (1910)). Other films used jointed cut-outs or animated matches (the later an especial favorite of Cohl).

In his lifetime, Cohl's most famous film was ''Le Peintre néo-impressionniste'' ["The Neo-Impressionistic Painter"], made in 1910. An artist is sketching a classically draped model holding a broom as a stick-figure when a collector storms in demanding to know the progress of his work. The artist shows the collector a series of blank colored canvases (the film is color-tinted). As he gives their ridiculous titles, the collector imagines them being drawn on the canvas. For example, the red canvas is "a cardinal eating lobster with tomatoes by the banks of the Red Sea". The collector is soon so delirious that he buys every blank canvas he can see. Quite obviously, the artist is not a neo-Impressionist (the name taken from the latest vogue in Paris)--he's an Incoherent.

The Cohl animated films had a large impact through their American distribution by Kleine. Many of them received rave reviews in the trade magazines, although Cohl was only identified as "Gaumont's animator". It was probably in response to "Fantasmagorie" that Winsor McCay made ''Little Nemo'' (1911). Motifs of Cohl's can be found in ''Little Nemo'' and later films by McCay: the dots coalescing into Little Nemo reflect effects in ''Un Drame chez les fantoches'' and ''Les Joyeaux Microbes''; the metamorphosis of the rose into the Princess may have been inspired by ''Fantasmagorie''; the titular character of ''The Story of a Mosquito'' (1912) sharpening his beak comes from ''Un Drame chez les fantoches''; the live-action/animation interaction of McCay throwing a pumpkin to ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914) may have been an answer to the matador hurling his hatchet at the moon in "Clair de lune espagnol". But if there were borrowings of Cohl by McCay, there was also a wealth of style and spirit in McCay's films that were uniquely his own.

On November 30, 1910, Cohl left Gaumont for Pathé, probably for more money. He made only two animated films before being forced into exclusively live-action work as a director of burlesques starring Jobard (Lucien Cazalis), one of the first generation of great screen comics. Cohl made ten Jobard films between March and May 1911 before leaving for a vacation. Apparently, one of these films was the origin of pixilation, the technique of applying stop-motion to human beings.

One of those two animated films was "Le Ratapeur de cervelles" ["Brains Repaired"], which is a re-hash of "Les Joyeaux Microbes" using a mental disease. The transformations here are some of the most remarkable (and non-sensical) of Cohl's career: as two men shake hands in profile, their heads expand into huge crossed bird beaks, filling the screen in a zoom until only their shared eye is seen, which itself expands into a bellows. The other film, "La Revanche des espirits" [The Spirit's Revenge] (now lost) may have been the first film to combine live-action and animation by drawing directly on the live-action film (previous work had used mattes exclusively).

In July 1911, Émile Cohl learned that his estranged daughter Andrée had died in an auto accident. Dissatisfied with Pathé and too proud to return to Gaumont, Cohl signed with Eclipse in September. None of Cohl's Eclipse films have survived, so little is known of his work there—it appeared to consist of object animation and travelogues. The Eclipse contract was not exclusive, so Cohl made films for other studios. One of these films, "Campbell Soups", was his first film made for Éclair, the Number Three studio in France.

After the turn of the century many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Éclair's American studio was run by Cohl's friend Arnaud. As Éclair was moving into comedies for American audiences, it was not too hard for Arnaud to have his friend sent over the Atlantic to join him. Émile, his wife Suzanne, and their son André sailed first class from La Havre to New York City. At Ellis Island, he was required, for "sanitary reasons", to shave off the mustache he had worn for thirty years in honor of André Gill.

Despite the inevitable xenophobia from the locals, the French colony at Fort Lee was enthusiastic about finally invading the coveted American market. Cohl bought a house and settled into a typical middle-class American lifestyle. He had a considerable advantage over fellow-Éclair employees, as he was fluent in English.

Cohl had two basic assignments at Fort Lee: humorous newsreel inserts and ''The Newlyweds'' animated series. The newsreel (one of the first of its kind) was started by the Sales Company in March 1912 and continued by Universal (Éclair's distributor). ''The Newlyweds'' started life as a newspaper comic strip by George McManus in the New York ''World''. The three main characters are a fashionable woman drawn in the style of the "Gibson Girl", her obliging husband, and Baby Snookums, an absolute hellion of a child who nevertheless gets everything he wants (usually at the expense of the father). The series was popular both in the United States and in France (under the name ''Le Petit Ange''). Cohl wanted to make the first animated series, and he liked ''The Newlyweds''. As for McManus, he may have been convinced to sign with Cohl at the urging of his friend Winsor McCay. Prior to this point, there had been a few adaptations of comic series into films, but they were all live action. Examples include ''Happy Hooligan'' (starring J. Stuart Blackton as the title character), ''Buster Brown'', and ''Mutt and Jeff'' (later to become a successful animated series).

Cohl began work on ''The Newlyweds'' series in November 1912, and the ads started appearing in February 1913. These ads are the oldest on record to use the phrase "animated cartoons"; as would be usual for all of the following comic adaptations, only the comic artist is mentioned in the advertising, never the animator. Cohl achieved his speed (thirteen ''Newlyweds'' cartoons in thirteen months) by using the bare minimum of actual animation, the scenes consisting of static tableau with dialog balloons appearing above each character's head (done faithfully in the McManus style). What little motion necessary was done with hinged cut-out figures animated by stop-motion. The only ingenuity in these films lay in the transitions between tableaux, which utilized Cohl's trademark transformations. Nevertheless, Cohl had proved that commercial animation was possible. The series was an instant hit. Only one film in this series has survived, "He Poses for His Portrait" [aka "Le Portrait de Zozor" (Fr.)] (1913).

The success of the series led to an explosion of animation, all adaptations of comic strips, and few of them remembered today. Meanwhile, Cohl saw both "The Story of a Mosquito" and "Gertie the Dinosaur" live at the Hammerstein Theater in New York, and he recorded his admiration of each in his diary. For animation to be practical, it had to move beyond the techniques of Cohl (cut-outs) and McCay (tracing), both of which were arduous, single-person processes. Two men were to independently work out ways around this problem: Raoul Barré and Randolph Bray. Barré studied art in Paris in the 1890s and was known for his pro-Dreyfus cartoons. In 1920, Cohl told the story of two unnamed visitors that Éclair had forced on him to study his techniques, techniques that they later stole to make their own series. It is possible that these two were Barré and his business partner William C. Nolan. It is possible that Cohl's obvious hostility to his visitors was the result of the knowledge that they were on opposite sides in the Dreyfus Affair. On the other hand, Barré's method for making cartoons quickly, the "slash system", is the exact opposite of Cohl's cut-out system. It is true that Barré's series, ''The Animated Grouch Chasers'', frequently stole characters and scenarios from Cohl, but then again everyone was doing that. Randolph Bray, in collaboration with Earl Hurd, developed the patents that nearly made them the Motion Picture Patents Company of animated film. Animation historian Michael Barrier speculates that one of Cohl's unnamed visitors may have been Bray instead of Barré.

World War I

On March 11, 1914, the Cohl family left New Jersey for Paris in response to a death in Suzanne's family. They never returned. Eight days later, a fire destroyed most of Éclair's American films, including all but two of Cohl's films ("He Poses for His Portrait" and "Bewitched Matches" [aka "Les Allumettes ensorcelées" (Fr.)]). The latter is the only one of the animated matches films Cohl made to survive. The American studio later moved to Tucson, Arizona. The chaos caused by the fire brought Éclair's work in France to a near-standstill. Cohl made a handful of films for Éclair in France, but the outbreak of World War I on August 3, 1914 forced those films to be held back for years before being released.

By August 11, 80% of the French film industry had enlisted or had been drafted. Cohl (at 57 years of age) was too old to fight, but he volunteered as best he could while working at Éclair. His heart was no longer in his work, for his beloved wife Suzanne was slowly dying. In 1916, American cartoons took France by storm. Gaumont imported ''The Animated Grouch Chasers'' and for the first time since the early films of Blackton, animated films were being advertised with the name and face of their animator, Raoul Barré. If Barré is the individual who "stole" Cohl's techniques, this must have made him furious (it didn't help that it was his former employer that was doing all the hoopla).

It was at this moment that Cohl was approached by Benjamin Rabier, a popular illustrator of children's books. Rabier wanted Cohl to animate his characters. The producer for the series was René Navarre, a former actor who had become famous playing the anti-hero Fantomas in a series of films in 1913 and 1914. The distributor was Agence Générale Cinematographique (AGC). The trio parted company over Cohl's resentment that he was not being credited in the advertising. The series, ''Les Dessins animés de Benjamin Rabier'' (''The Animated Drawings of Benjamin Rabier'') starred Flambeau the War Dog. The only surviving film, "Les Fiançailles de Flambeau" ["Flambeau's Wedding"] (released 1917) has cute naturalistic characters from Rabier and coarse morbid humor from Cohl. By the time of Cohl's departure, Rabier had learned enough animation to carry on with the help of two assistants. The series lasted for several years.

Cohl continued work with Éclair throughout this debacle, mostly making newsreel inserts. Based on the few fragments that remain, the series ''Les Aventures des Pieds Nickelés'' [''Adventures of the Leadfoot Gang''] may have been the best work of Cohl's career. It was based on a working class comic strip by Louis Forton, about a gang of anarchistic youngsters constantly getting into trouble with both the criminal underground and the law. The series was terminated by the war, as the Éclair-Journal studios were occupied to make American war propaganda.

Cohl spent the rest of the war serving his country. He joined the United States Air Service Supply as a volunteer on May 11, 1918. His son André had joined the American Transportation Division the previous November.

With the war over, Cohl quit Éclair in May 1920 and made his last significant film, "Fantoche cherche un logement" ["Puppet Looks for an Apartment"]. It was released as "La Maison du fantoche" ["Puppet's Mansion"] in April 1921 by AGC. The only notice paid to it in the trade journals was a one-line plot summary. Nobody cared about Cohl's work anymore, or any other French filmmaker, for that matter. Cohl's career was finished, since there was no longer any way to justify the cost of an animated short subject in a world of live-action features.

Cohl died in 1938. His ashes are kept in the columbarium of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, in Paris.

Filmography as a director

N.I.-Ni- C'est fini (1908)

L' hôtel du silence (1908)

Le violoniste (1908)

le veau (1908)

Le prince Azur (1908)

Le petit soldat qui devient Dieu (1908)

Le mouton enragé (1908) (co-director)

Le miracle des roses (1908)

Le journal animé (1908)

Le coffre-fort (1908)

La vengeance de Riri (1908)

L' automate (1908)

La monnaie de mille francs (1908)

La force de l' enfant (1908)

La course aux potirons (1908) (co-director)

Et si nous buvions un coup (1908)

Blanche comme neige (1908)

Fantasmagorie (1908)

Le cauchemar de Fantoche (1908)

Le cerceau magique (1908)

Un drame chez les fantoches (1908)

Les allumettes animées (1908)

Les frères Boutdebois (1908)

La séquestrée (1908)

Un chirurgien distrait (1909)

Monsieur Clown chez le Lilliputiens (1909)

Moderne école (1909) (co-director)

Les Transfigurations (1909)

Le Spirite (1909)

Les Locataires D'à-Côté (1909)

Les Grincheux (1909)

Les Chaussures Matrimoniales (1909)

Les Chapeaux Des Belles Dames (1909)

Le Docteur Carnaval (1909)

L' Armée d' Agenor (1909)

La Bataille d'Austerlitz (1909)

Affaires de Coeur (1909)

Soyons Donc Sportifs (1909) (co-director)

La Valise Diplomatique (1909) (co-director)

La Lampe Qui File (1909)

L' Agent Du Poche (1909)

Japon de Fantaisie (1909)

Clair de lune espagnol (1909) (co-director)

L' Omelette Fantastique (1909) (co-director)

Les Beaux-Arts De Jocko (1909)

La vie à rebours (1909)

Pauvre Gosse (1909)

L' éventail animé (1909) (co-director)

Les Jojeux Microbes (1909)

Les Couronnes I (1909)

les Couronnes II (1909)

Porcelaines Tendres (1909)

Génération Spontanée (1909)

Don Quichotte (1909)

Le Miroir Magique (1909)

La Ratelier De La Belle-Mère (1909)

La Lune Dans Son Tablier (1909)

Les Lunettes Féeriques (1909)

Toto Devient Anarchiste (1910)

Rien n'est impossible à l' homme (1910)

Rêves Enfantins (1910)

Monsieur Stop (1910)

Mobilier Fidèle (1910)

Les chefs-d'oeuvre de Bébé (1910)

Les Chaînes (1910)

Le Placier est Tenace (1910)

Le Petit Chantecler (1910)

Le Peintre Néo-Impressioniste (1910)

L' Enfance De l' Art (1910)

Le Grand Machin et le Petit Chose (1910)

La Télécouture Sans Fil (1910)

La Musicomanie (1910)

Histoire de Chapeaux (1910)

En Route (1910)

Dix Siècles D' élégance (1910)

Bonsoirs Russes (1910)

Bonsoirs (1910)

Le Binettoscope (1910)

Champion De Puzzle (1910)

Le Songe D' Un Garçon De Café (1910)

Cadres Fleuris (1910)

Le Coup De Jarnac (1910)

Le Tout Petit Faust (1910)

Les Douze Travaux d'Hercule (1910)

Singeries Humaines (1910)

Les Quatres Petits Tailleurs (1910)

Les Fantaisies D' Agénor Maltracé (1911)

Les Bestioles Artistes (1911]

Le Repateur De Cervelles (1911)

Le Musée Des Grotesques (1911)

Le Cheveu Délateur (1911)

La Vengeance Des Espirits (1911)

La Chambre Ensorcelée (1911)

La Boîte Diabolique (1911)

Jobard, Portefaix Par Amour (1911)

Jobard ne veut pas voir les femmes travailler (1911)

Jobard ne veut pas rire (1911)

Jobard, garçon de recettes (1911)

Jobard, fiancé par interim (1911)

Jobard est demandé en mariage (1911)

Jobard chauffeur (1911)

Jobard change de bonne (1911)

Jobard à tue sa grand-mère (1911)

Jobard, amoureux timide (1911)

C'est roulant (1911)

Aventures d'un bout de papier (1911)

Une Poule Mouilléé Qui Se Sèche (1912)

Ramoneur Malgré Lui (1912)

Quelle Drôle De Blanchisserie (1912)

Poulot N'est Pas Sage (1912)

Moulay Hafid et Alphonse XIII (1912)

Les Métamorphoses Comiques (1912)

Les Jouets Animes (1912)

Les Extraordinaires Exercices De La Famille Coeur-de-Buis (1912)

Les Exploits De Feu-Follet (1912)

Le Prince de Galles et Fallières (1912)

Le premier jour de vacances de Poilot (1912)

Le marié à mal aux dents (1912)

La Marseillaise (1912)

La Baignore (1912)

Jeunes Gens à Marier (1912)

Fruits Et Légumes Vivants (1912)

Dans La Valléé D'Ossau (1912)

Monsieur de Crac (1912)

Campbell Soups (1912)

War in Turkey (1913)

Rockefeller (1913)

Il Joue Avec Dodo (1913)

I Confidence (1913)

Castro in New York (1913)

Carte Américaine (1913)

The Subway (1913)

Milk (1913)

Graft (1913)

Coal (1913)

When He Wants a Dog, He Wants A Dog (1913)

Business Must Not Interfere (1913)

Wilson and the Hats (1913)

Wilson and the Broom (1913)

Universal Trade Marks (1913)

The Two Presidents (1913)

The Police Women (1913)

The Auto (1913)

Poker (1913)

Gaynor and the Night Clubs (1913)

He Wants What He Wants When He Want It (1913)

Poor Little Clap He Was Only Dreaming (1913)

Wilson and the Tariffs (1913)

The Masquerade (1913)

The Brand Of California (1913)

Bewitched Matches (1913)

He Loves To Watch The Flight of Time (1913)

The Two Suffragettes (1913)

The Safety Pin (1913)

The Red Balloons (1913)

The Mosquito (1913)

He Ruins His Family's Reputation (1913)

He Slept Well (1913)

He Was Not Ill, Only Unhappy (1913)

Uncle Sam and his Suit (1913)

The Polo Boat (1913)

The Cubists (1913)

The Artist (1913)

It Is Hard to Please Him But It Is Worth It (1913)

He Poses For His Portrait (1913)

Wilson's Row Boat (1913)

Clara and her Mysterious Toys (1913)

The Hat (1913)

Thaw and the Lasso (1913)

Bryant and the Speeches (1913)

A Vegetarian's Dream (1913)

Thaw and the Spider (1913)

He Loves to be Amused (1913)

Unforeseen Metamorphosis (1913)

He Likes Things Upside Down (1913)

Pickup Is A Sportsman (1913)

Zozor (1914)

What They Eat (1914)

The Terrible Scrap Of Paper (1914)

The Greedy Neighbor (1914)

The Bath (1914)

The Anti-Neurasthenic Trumpet (1914)

Ses Ancêtres (1914)

Serbia's Card (1914)

Le ouistiti de Toto (1914)

L' enlèvement de Denajire Goldebois (1914)

L' avenir dévoilé par les lignes de pieds (1914)

He Does Not Care To Be Photographed (1914)

Il aime le bruit (1914)

Society at Simpson Center (1914)

Les allumettes fantaisistes (1914)

The Social Group (1914)

Une drame sur la planche à chaussures (1915)

Fantaisies truquées (1915)

Éclair Journal (1915)

Pulcherie et ses meubles (1916)

Pages d' histoire number 1 and 2 (1916)

Mariage par suggestion (1916)

Les victuailles de Gretchen se révoltent (1916)

Les tableaux futuristes et incohérents (1916)

Les fiançailles de Flambeau (1916)

Les exploits de Farfadet (1916)

Les évasions de Bob Walter (1916)

Les braves petits soldats de plomb (1916)

Les aventures de Clémentine (1916) (co-regisseur)

La main mystérieuse (1916)

La journée de Flambeau (1916) (co-regisseur)

La campagne de France 1814 (1916)

La blanchisserie américaine (1916)

Jeux de cartes (1916)

Flambeau au pays des surprises (1916)

Figures de cire et têtes de bois (1916)

Éclair Journal: Série (1916)

Croquemitaine et Rosalie (1916)

Comment nous entendons (1916)

Les aventures des Pieds-Nickelés (1918)

La maison du Fantoche (1921)

See also

Paul Grimault, next significant French animator

References

Donald Crafton; ''Emile Cohl, Caricature, and Film''; Princeton Press; ISBN 0-69-105581-5 (1990)

Michael Barrier; ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''; Oxford University Press; ISBN 0-19-503759-6 (1999)

Giannalberto Bendazzi (Anna Taraboletti-Segre, English translator); ''Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation''; Indiana University Press; ISBN 0-253-20937-4 (2001 reprint)

Pierre Courtet-Cohl, Bernard Génin; ''Emile Cohl - L'inventeur du dessin animé''; Omniscience; ISBN 978-2-916097-16-9 (2008)

External links

Official website

Biography of Émile Cohl

Find-A-Grave profile for Émile Cohl

Category:1857 births Category:1938 deaths Category:Artists from Paris Category:French caricaturists Category:French animators Category:French cartoonists Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:History of animation

de:Émile Cohl et:Émile Cohl fa:امیل کول fr:Émile Cohl it:Émile Cohl pl:Émile Cohl pt:Émile Cohl ru:Коль, Эмиль fi:Émile Cohl

name	Amy Krouse Rosenthal
occupation	Author, Filmmaker, Blogger
genre	Memoir, Children's literature, Short films, NPR
website	http://www.whoisamy.com }}

Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a New York Times bestselling author of both adult and popular children's books, a filmmaker, radio show host, and blogger. Krouse Rosenthal is best known for her memoir ''Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life'', the film project ''The Beckoning of Lovely'', and her children's picture books. She is a prolific writer, having published 16 such kids' books between 2005 and 2011, and has at least five more in the pipeline through 2012. She is the only author to have three children's books make the Best Children's Books for Family Literacy list in the same year. She is a frequent contributor to Chicago's NPR affiliate WBEZ and to the TED conference.

Books

The ''New York Times'' gave especially good reviews of her books ''Duck! Rabbit!,'' ''Spoon'' and ''Yes Day!'' in 2009, and called all of her books "terrific". ''Duck! Rabbit!'' is a play on an optical illusion that a duck can look like a rabbit. It was read at the White House during the 2010 Easter Egg Roll. ''Yes Day'' is a fictional holiday during which parents must say "yes" to their children's every whim. The ''Times'' opined that:

Previously, Krouse Rosenthal had primarily been "merely successful" as a writer of adult non-fiction, such as ''Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life'' (2005). She did not always get the recognition she has as of 2010, perhaps because "her writing may seem all over the map." In 2010, National Public Radio's Morning Edition opined that:

Krouse Rosenthal had two books on the New York Times bestseller list, ''Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons'' and ''Duck!Rabbit!''

Along with her adult and children's work, Krouse Rosenthal has a keepsake journal line that includes ''The Belly Book: A Nine-Month Journal for You and Your Growing Belly''.

Films

As a filmmaker, her short films include ''17 Things I Made'', ''ATM: Always Trust Magic'', ''The Kindness Thought Bubble'', ''The Money Tree'', and '' The Beckoning of Lovely''. ''Chicago Magazine'' described ''The Beckoning of Lovely'':

The full-length feature film of ''The Beckoning of Lovely'' is scheduled for release on November 11, 2011 (11/11/11).

Other work

Krouse Rosenthal is the host and creator of MissionAmyKR.com, a blog produced by Chicago Public Radio affiliate, WBEZ. Each week on the blog, Krouse Rosenthal creates and posts a new interactive mission for readers. Tony Malatia, the president of WBEZ, summarizes, "[Amy's] participatory use of the web has become a riveting and affirming celebration of the good in people. And in a real—beyond virtual—sense of community." She was also the producer and host of the radio show ''Writers' Block Party'' on WBEZ, the Chicago Public Radio station from 2002-2008.

Her essays and articles have appeared in ''The New York Times'', ''Hallmark Magazine'', ''Parenting'', ''O: The Oprah Magazine'', and ''McSweeney's''.

Krouse Rosenthal is a contributor to TED, appearing at the 2011 TEDActive Conference in Palm Springs, California and the 2010 TEDx Conference in Toronto, Canada.

Personal

She lives with her family in Chicago. She has three children.

Children's Books

Little Pea, Illustrated by Jen Corace, ''Chronicle Books, 2005''

Little Hoot, Illustrated by Jen Corace, ''Chronicle Books, 2009''

Little Oink, Illustrated by Jen Corace, '' Chronicle Books, 2009''

The OK Book, Illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, ''HarperCollins, 2007''

Spoon, Illustrated by Scott Magoon, ''Hyperion Books For Children, 2009''

One Of Those Days, Illustrated by Rebecca Doughty, ''Putnam, 2005''

Yes Day!, with Tom Lichtenheld, ''HarperCollins, 2009''

It's Not Fair, Illustrated by Tom Litchenheld, ''HarperCollins, 2008''

Duck! Rabbit!, with Tom Lichtenheld, ''Chronicle Books, 2009''

Bedtime For Mommy, Illustrated by Leuyen Pham, ''Bloomsbury, 2010''

The Wonder Book, Illustrated by Paul Schmid ''HarperCollins, 2010''

Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, Illustrated by Jane Dyer, ''HarperCollins, 2005''

Sugar Cookies: Sweet Little Lessons on Love, Illustrated by Jane and Brooke Dyer ''HarperCollins, 2010''

One Smart Cookie: Bite-Size Life Lessons For The School Years And Beyond, Illustrated by Jane and Brooke Dyer ''HarperCollins, 2010''

Al Pha's Bet, Illustrated by Delphine Durand, ''Putnam 2011''

This Plus That, Illustrated by Jen Corace, ''HarperCollins 2011''

Plant A Kiss, Illustrated by Peter Reynolds, ''Harper Collins coming in Winter 2011''

Adult Books

The Book Of Eleven: An Itemized Collection Of Brain Lint, ''Andrews McMeel, 1998''

The Same Phrase Describes My Marriage And My Breasts: Before The Kids, They Used To Be Such A Cute Couple, ''Andrews McMeel, 1999''

Mother's Guide To The Meaning Of Life: What I've Learned On My Never Ending Quest To Become A Dalai Mama, ''Rodale Press, 2001''

Encyclopedia Of An Ordinary Life, ''Crown/Random House, 2005''

Journal Line

The Belly Book: A Nine Month Journal For Baby's First Year, ''Potter Style, 2006''

Karma Checks: 60 Checks To Keep The World In Balance, ''Potter Style, 2007''

Your Birthday Book: A Keepsake Journal, ''Potter Style 2008''

Words To Remember: A Journal For Your Child's Sweet & Amusing Sayings, Illustrated by Ida Pearl, ''Pottere Style, 2008''

The Big Sibling Book: Baby's First Year According To Me, The Big Sib,''Potter Style 2009''

The Grandparent Book: A Keepsake Journal, ''Potter Style 2010''

My Baby Book: A Keepsake Journal For Baby's First Year, '' Potter Style, 2010''

See also

Book talk

Children's literature

Children's literature criticism

International Children's Digital Library

List of children's literature authors

References

External links

Author's Website

Biography at Harper Collins

Website for Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life

Presenting at Cusp Conference 2010

Category:American memoirists Category:Living people Category:American women writers Category:Year of birth unknown Category:American children's writers