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Edward I of England

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:39:59 +0100

Edward I of England

Edward I Longshanks

Portrait in Westminster Abbey, thought to be of Edward I
King of England (more...)
Reign	16 November 1272 – 7 July 1307
Coronation	19 August 1274
Predecessor	Henry III of Winchester
Successor	Edward II of Carnarvon

Consort	Eleanor of Castile m. 1254; dec. 1290 Margaret of France m. 1299; wid. 1307
among others Issue
Eleanor, Countess of Bar Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester Alphonso, Earl of Chester Margaret, Duchess of Brabant Mary of Woodstock Elizabeth, Countess of Hereford Edward II of Carnarvon Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent
House	House of Plantagenet
Father	Henry III of Winchester
Mother	Eleanor of Provence
Born	17/18 June 1239 Palace of Westminster, London, England
Died	7 July 1307 (aged 68) Burgh by Sands, Cumberland, England
Burial	Westminster Abbey, London, England

Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and joined the fight against Simon de Montfort. Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward left on crusade to the Holy Land. The crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and he was crowned king at Westminster on 19 August.

Edward's reign had two main phases. He spent the first years reforming royal administration. Through an extensive legal inquiry Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edward's attention was drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with Englishmen. Next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a succession dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war that followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same time there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns led to unbearable levels of taxation, and Edward met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition. These crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the king died in 1307, he left behind a number of financial and political problems to his son Edward II, as well as an ongoing war with Scotland.

Edward I was a tall man for his age, hence the nickname "Longshanks". He was also temperamental and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man and he often instilled fear in his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way in which he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, both as a soldier, administrator and a man of faith. Modern historians have been more divided on their assessment of the king; while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude to his nobility. Currently, Edward I is credited with many accomplishments during his reign, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry III, establishing parliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a functional system for raising taxes, and reforming the law through statutes. At the same time, he is also often criticised for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards the Scots, and the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290.

[edit] Early years

[edit] Childhood and marriage

Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night between the 17th and 18th of June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence.^[1] Although the young prince was seriously ill on several occasions, in 1246, 1247, and 1251, he grew up to be strong and healthy.^[2] Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard – father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard – until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffard's death in 1246.^[3] Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain, son of King Henry's brother Richard of Cornwall.^[2] Henry of Almain would remain a close companion of the prince, both through the civil war that followed, and later on the crusade.^[4]

Early fourteenth-century manuscript initial showing Edward and Eleanor. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's drooping eyelid, a trait he inherited from his father.^[5]

In 1254 English fears of a Castilian invasion of the English province of Gascony induced Edward's father to arrange a politically expedient marriage between his fourteen year old son and Eleanor, the half-sister of King Alfonso X of Castile.^[6] Eleanor and Edward were married on 1 November 1254 in the Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Castile.^[7] As part of the marriage agreement, the young prince received grants of land worth 15,000 marks a year.^[8] Though the endowments King Henry made were sizable, they offered Edward little independence. He had already received Gascony as early as 1249, but Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester had been appointed as royal lieutenant the year before and, consequently, drew its income, so in practice Edward derived neither authority nor revenue from this province.^[9] The grant he received in 1254 included most of Ireland, and much land in Wales and England, including the earldom of Chester, but the king retained much control over the land in question, particularly in Ireland, so Edward's power was limited there as well, and the king derived most of the income from those lands as well.^[10]

From 1254 to 1257, Edward was under the influence his mother's relatives, known as the Savoyards,^[11] the most notable of whom was Peter of Savoy, the queen's uncle.^[12] After 1257, he increasingly fell in with the Poitevin, or Lusignan faction – the half-brothers of his father Henry III – led by such men as William de Valence.^[13] This association was significant, because the two groups of privileged foreigners were resented by the established English aristocracy, and would be at the centre of the ensuing years' baronial reform movement.^[14] There were tales of unruly and violent conduct by Edward and his Lusignan kinsmen, which raised questions about the royal heir's personal qualities. The next years would be formative on Edward's character.^[15]

[edit] Early ambitions

Edward had shown independence in political matters as early as 1255, when he sided with the Soler family in Gascony, in the ongoing conflict between the Soler and Colomb families. This ran contrary to his father's policy of mediation between the local factions.^[16] In May 1258, a group of magnates drew up a document for reform of the king’s government – the so-called Provisions of Oxford – largely directed against the Lusignans. Edward stood by his political allies, and strongly opposed the Provisions. The reform movement succeeded in limiting the Lusignan influence, however, and gradually Edward’s attitude started to change. In March 1259, he entered into a formal alliance with one of the main reformers Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. Then, on 15 October, 1259 he announced that he supported the barons' goals, and their leader, Simon de Montfort.^[17]

The motive behind Edward's change of heart could have been purely pragmatic; Montfort was in a good position to support his cause in Gascony.^[18] When the king left for France in November, Edward's behaviour turned into pure insubordination. He made several appointments to advance the cause of the reformers, causing his father to believe that his son was considering a coup d'état.^[19] When the king returned from France, he initially refused to see his son, but through the mediation of the Earl of Cornwall and the archbishop of Canterbury, the two were eventually reconciled.^[20] Edward was sent abroad, and in November 1260 he once more united with the Lusignans, who had been exiled to France.^[21]

Back in England, early in 1262, Edward fell out with some of his former Lusignan allies over financial matters. The next year King Henry sent him on a campaign in Wales against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, with only limited results.^[22] Around the same time, Simon de Montfort, who had been out of the country since 1261, returned to England and re-ignited the baronial reform movement.^[23] It was at this pivotal moment, as the king seemed ready to resign to the barons' demands, that Edward began to take control of the situation. Whereas he had so far been unpredictable and equivocating, from this point on he remained firmly devoted to protecting his father's royal rights.^[24] He reunited with some of the men he had alienated the year before – among them his childhood friend, Henry of Almain, and John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey – and retook Windsor Castle from the rebels.^[25] Through the arbitration of King Louis IX of France, an agreement was made between the two parties. This so-called Mise of Amiens was largely favourable to the royalist side, and laid the seeds for further conflict.^[26]

[edit] Civil war

[edit] Crusade and accession

See also: Eighth Crusade and Ninth Crusade

Edward took the crusader's cross in an elaborate ceremony on 24 June 1268, with his brother Edmund and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the ninth Crusade were Edward's former adversaries—like the earl of Gloucester, though the earl did not end up going.^[41] With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances.^[42] King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500.^[43] This, however, was not enough; the rest had to be raised through a tax on the laity, which had not been levied since 1237.^[43] In May 1270, Parliament granted a tax of a twentieth,^[44] in exchange for which the king agreed to reconfirm Magna Carta, and to impose restrictions on Jewish money lending.^[45] On 20 August Edward sailed from Dover for France.^[46] Historians have been unable to determine the size of the force with any certainty, but Edward probably brought with him around 225 knights and all together less than 1000 men.^[42]

Originally, the Crusaders intended to relieve the beleaguered Christian stronghold of Acre, but Louis had been diverted to Tunis. The French king and his brother Charles of Anjou, who had made himself king of Sicily, decided to attack the emirate in order to establish a stronghold in North Africa.^[47] The plans failed when the French forces were struck by an epidemic which, on 25 August, took the life of King Louis himself.^[48] By the time Edward arrived at Tunis, Charles had already signed a treaty with the emir, and there was little else to do but return to Sicily. The crusade was postponed until next spring, but a devastating storm off the coast of Sicily dissuaded Charles of Anjou and Louis's successor Philip III from any further campaigning.^[49] Edward decided to continue alone, and on 9 May 1271 he finally landed at Acre.^[50]

Operations during the Crusade of Edward I

By then, the situation in the Holy Land was a precarious one. Jerusalem had fallen in 1244, and Acre was now the centre of the Christian state.^[51] The Muslim states were on the offensive under the Mamluk leadership of Baibars, and were now threatening Acre itself. Though Edward's men were an important addition to the garrison, they stood little chance against Baibars' superior forces, and an initial raid at nearby St Georges-de-Lebeyne in June was largely futile.^[52] An embassy to the Mongols helped bring about an attack on Aleppo in the north, which helped to distract Baibar's forces.^[53] In November, Edward led a raid on Qaqun, which could have served as a bridgehead to Jerusalem, but both the Mongol invasion and the attack on Qaqun failed. Things now seemed increasingly desperate, and in May 1272 Hugh III of Cyprus, who was the nominal king of Jerusalem, signed a ten–year truce with Baibars.^[54] Edward was initially defiant, but an attack by a Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Even though he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the next months.^[55]^[56]

It was not until 24 September that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on 16 November.^[57] Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was partly due to his health still being poor, but also due to a lack of urgency.^[58] The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king at his father's death, rather than at his own coronation, as had up until then been customary.^[59] In Edward's absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell.^[60] The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited the pope in Rome and suppressed a rebellion in Gascony.^[61] Only on 2 August 1274 did he return to England, and was crowned on 19 August.^[62]

[edit] Reign

[edit] Administration and the law

Upon returning home, Edward immediately embarked on the administrative business of the nation, and his major concern was restoring order and re-establishing royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father.^[63] In order to accomplish this he immediately ordered an extensive change of administrative personnel. The most important of these was the appointment of Robert Burnell as chancellor; a man who would remain in the post until 1292, as one of the king's closest associates.^[64] Edward then proceeded to replace most local officials, such as the escheators and sheriffs.^[65] This last measure was done in preparation for an extensive inquest covering all of England, that would hear complaints about abuse of power by royal officers. The inquest produced the a set of so-called Hundred Rolls, from the administrative sub-division of the hundred.^[66]

Groat of Edward I (4 pence)

The second purpose of the inquest was to establish what land and rights the crown had lost during the reign of Henry III.^[67] The Hundred Rolls formed the basis for the later legal inquiries called the Quo warranto proceedings. The purpose of these inquiries was to establish by what warrant (Latin: Quo warranto) various liberties were held.^[68] If the defendant could not produce a royal licence to prove the grant of the liberty, then it was the crown's opinion – based on the writings of the influential thirteenth-century legal scholar Bracton – that the liberty should revert to the king. This caused great consternation among the aristocracy, who insisted that long use in itself constituted license.^[69] A compromise was eventually reached in 1290, whereby a liberty was considered legitimate as long as it could be shown to have been exercised since the coronation of King Richard I, in 1189.^[70] Royal gains from the Quo warranto proceedings were insignificant; few liberties were returned to the king.^[71] Edward had nevertheless won a significant victory, in clearly establishing the principle that all liberties essentially emanated from the crown.^[72]

The 1290 Statute of Quo warranto was only one part of a wider legislative effort, which was one of the most important contributions of Edward I's reign.^[2] This era of legislative action had started already at the time of the baronial reform movement; the Statute of Marlborough (1267) contained elements both of the Provisions of Oxford and the Dictum of Kenilworth.^[73] The compilation of the Hundred Rolls was followed shortly after by the issue of Westminster I (1275), which asserted the royal prerogative and outlined restrictions on liberties.^[74] In Mortmain (1279), the issue was grants of land to the church.^[75] The first clause of Westminster II (1285), known as De donis conditionalibus, dealt with family settlement of land, and entails.^[76] Merchants (1285) established firm rules for the recovery of debts,^[77] while Winchester (1285) dealt with peacekeeping on a local level.^[78] Quia emptores (1290) – issued along with Quo warranto – set out to remedy land ownership disputes resulting from alienation of land by subinfeudation.^[79] The age of the great statutes largely ended with the death of Robert Burnell in 1292.^[80]

[edit] Welsh wars

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd enjoyed an advantageous situation in the aftermath of the Barons' War. Through the 1267 Treaty of Montgomery he officially obtained land he had conquered in the Four Cantrefs of Perfeddwlad, and was recognised in his title of Prince of Wales.^[81]^[82] Armed conflicts nevertheless continued, in particular with certain dissatisfied Marcher Lords, such as the earl of Gloucester, Roger Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford.^[83] Problems were exacerbated when Llywelyn's younger brother Dafydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys, after failing in an assassination attempt against Llywelyn, defected to the English in 1274.^[84] Citing ongoing hostilities and the English king harbouring his enemies, Llywelyn refused to do homage to Edward.^[85] For Edward, a further provocation came in the form of Llywelyn's planned marriage to Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort.^[86] In November 1276 war was declared.^[87] Initial operations were launched under the captaincy of Mortimer, Lancaster (Edward's brother Edmund) and William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick.^[88] Support for Llywelyn was weak among his own countrymen.^[89] In July 1277 Edward invaded with a force of 15,500 – of whom 9,000 were Welshmen.^[90] The campaign never came to a major battle, and Llywelyn soon realised he had no choice but to surrender.^[90] By the Treaty of Aberconwy in November 1277, he was left only with the land of Gwynedd, though he was allowed to retain the title of Prince of Wales.^[91]

When war broke out again in 1282, it was an entirely different undertaking. For the Welsh this war was over national identity, enjoying wide support, provoked particularly by attempts to impose English law on Welsh subjects.^[92] For Edward it became a war of conquest rather than simply a punitive expedition, like the former campaign.^[93] The war started with a rebellion by Dafydd, who was discontented with the reward he had received from Edward in 1277.^[94] Llywelyn and other Welsh chieftains soon joined in, and initially the Welsh experienced military success. In June, Gloucester was defeated at the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr.^[95] On 6 November, while John Peckham, William Wallace

Sir William Wallace

Born	1272 Elderslie or Ellerslie, Scotland
Died	23 August 1305 Smithfield, London, England
Occupation	commander in the Scottish Wars of Independence
Children	none recorded
Parents	Alan or Malcolm Wallace (Father)

Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; 1272 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence and is today remembered in Scotland as a patriot and national hero.^[1]

Along with Andrew Moray, he defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. A few years later Wallace was captured in Robroyston near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him executed for treason.

Wallace was the inspiration for the poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th-century minstrel, Blind Harry and this poem was to some extent the basis of Randall Wallace's screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart.

[hide]

[edit] Background

Wallace was born in Elderslie, in the county of Renfrewshire, Scotland. Little is known for certain of his immediate family. The Wallace family may have originally come from Wales or Shropshire as followers of Walter Fitzalan (died June 1177), High Steward of Scotland and ancestor of the Stewart family. The early members of the family are recorded as holding lands including Riccarton, Tarbolton, and Auchincruive in Kyle, and Stenton in Haddingtonshire.^[2]

The seal attached to a letter sent to the Hanse city of Lübeck in 1297 appears to give his father's name as Alan.^[3]^[4] His brothers Alan and John are known from other sources.^[5] Alan Wallace may appear in the Ragman Rolls as a crown tenant in Ayrshire, but this is uncertain.^[6] The traditional view is that Wallace's birthplace was Elderslie in Renfrewshire, but it has been recently claimed to be Ellerslie in Ayrshire. There is no contemporary evidence linking him with either location, although both areas were linked to the wider Wallace family.^[7]

At the time of Wallace's birth, which cannot be securely dated, King Alexander III (Medieval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Alaxandair; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Alasdair) ruled Scotland. His reign had seen a period of peace and economic stability. Alexander had maintained a positive relationship with the kings of England, and had successfully fended off continuing English claims to sovereignty. In 1286 Alexander died after falling from his horse; none of his children survived him.

The Scottish lords declared Alexander's four-year-old granddaughter, Margaret (called "the Maid of Norway"), Queen. Due to her young age, the Scottish lords set up an interim government to administer Scotland until Margaret came of age. King Edward I of England (popularly known as "Longshanks" among other names) took advantage of the instability by arranging the Treaty of Birgham with the lords, betrothing Margaret to his son, Edward, on the understanding that Scotland would preserve its status as a separate kingdom. Margaret, however, fell ill and died at only seven years of age (1290) on her way from her native Norway to Scotland. A number of claimants to the Scottish throne came forward almost immediately.

With Scotland threatening to descend into a dynastic war, Edward stepped in as arbitrator — as a powerful neighbour and significant jurist he could hardly be ignored. Before the process could begin, he insisted, despite his previous promise to the contrary, that all of the contenders recognize him as Lord Paramount of Scotland. After some initial resistance, all, including John Balliol and Robert Bruce (grandfather of the Robert Bruce who later became king), the chief contenders, accepted this precondition. Finally, in early November 1292, at a great feudal court held in the castle at Berwick-upon-Tweed, judgement was given in favour of John Balliol having the strongest claim in law. Formal announcement of the judgement was given by Edward on 17 November.

Edward proceeded to reverse the rulings of the Scottish guardians and even summoned King John Balliol to stand before the English court as a common felon. Balliol supporters including Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews and John Comyn, Earl of Buchan appealed to King Edward to keep the promise he had made in the Treaty of Birgham and elsewhere to respect the customs and laws of Scotland. Edward repudiated the treaty, saying he was no longer bound by it.^[8] Balliol renounced his homage in March 1296 and by the end of the month Edward stormed Berwick-upon-Tweed, sacking the then-Scottish border town. He slaughtered almost all of his opponents who resided there, even if they fled to their homes. In April, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Dunbar in East Lothian and by July Edward had forced Balliol to abdicate at Stracathro near Montrose. Edward then instructed his officers to receive formal homage from some 1800 Scottish nobles (many of the rest being prisoners of war at that time), having previously removed the Stone of Destiny, the Scottish coronation stone, from Scone Palace, and taken it to London.

[edit] Military career

[edit] Early exploits

Blind Harry invented a tale that Wallace's father was killed along with his brother John in a skirmish at Loudoun Hill in 1291 by the notorious Lambies, who came from the Clan Lamont.

According to local Ayrshire legend, two English soldiers challenged Wallace in the Lanark marketplace regarding his catching of fish. According to various historians, including John Strawhorn, author of The History of Irvine, the legend has Wallace fishing on the River Irvine. He had been staying with his uncle in Riccarton. A group of English soldiers approached, whereupon the leader of the band came forward and demanded the entire catch. Even after Wallace offered half of his fish, the English refused such diplomacy and threatened him with death if he refused. Wallace allegedly floored the approaching soldier with his fishing rod and took up the assailant's sword. He set upon the entire team of English soldiers with stereotypical success. The argument had escalated into a brawl and two English soldiers were killed. Blind Harry places this incident along the River Irvine with five soldiers being killed.^[9] The authorities issued a warrant for his arrest shortly thereafter. According to a plaque outside St. Paul's Cathedral in Dundee, however, William Wallace began his war for independence by killing the son of the English governor of Dundee, who had made a habit of bullying Wallace and his family. This story perhaps has more weight because it is speculated that Wallace may have attended what is now the High School of Dundee, and spent some of his time growing up in the nearby village of Kilspindie. In 1291, or 1292, William Wallace killed the son of an English noble, named Selby, with a dirk.

Wallace's activities before 1297 are completely undocumented, but Harry states that Wallace was under the protection of his uncle Ronald Crawford, Sheriff of Ayrshire. He used this relationship to his advantage and there are unconfirmed reports of his early career as a petty criminal.

Wallace enters history when he killed William Heselrig, the English Sheriff of Lanark, in May 1297. According to later legend this was to avenge the death of Marion Braidfute of Lamington — the young maiden Wallace courted and married in Blind Harry's tale. Soon, he achieved victory in skirmishes at Loudoun Hill (near Darvel, Ayrshire) and Ayr; he also fought alongside Sir William Douglas the Hardy at Scone, routing the English justiciar, William Ormesby from cities such as Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow, Scone and Dundee.

Supporters of the growing revolt suffered a major blow when Scottish nobles agreed to personal terms with the English at Irvine in July. In August, Wallace left Selkirk Forest with his followers to join Moray at Stirling. Moray began another uprising, and their forces combined at Stirling, where they prepared to meet the English in battle.

As Wallace's ranks swelled, information obtained by John de Graham prompted Wallace to move his force from Selkirk Forest to the Highlands, though there is no historical evidence to suggest that Wallace ever left the Lowlands area of Scotland other than his visit to France and his trip to the scaffold in London.

[edit] Battle of Stirling Bridge

On 11 September 1297, Wallace won the Battle of Stirling Bridge. Although vastly outnumbered, the Scottish forces led by Wallace and Andrew Moray routed the English army. John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey's professional army of 3,000 cavalry and 50,000 infantry met disaster as they crossed over to the north side of the river. The narrowness of the bridge prevented many soldiers from crossing together (possibly as few as three men abreast), so while the English soldiers crossed, the Scots held back until half of them had passed and then killed the English as quickly as they could cross.

Stirling Bridge, 2006

A pivotal charge, led by one of Wallace's captains, caused some of the English soldiers to retreat as others pushed forward, and under the overwhelming weight, the bridge collapsed and many English soldiers drowned. Harry claims that the bridge was rigged to collapse by the action of a man hidden beneath the bridge. The Scots won a significant victory which boosted the confidence of their army. Hugh Cressingham, Edward's treasurer in Scotland, died in the fighting and it is reputed that his body was subsequently flayed and the skin cut into small pieces as tokens of the victory. The Lanercost Chronicle records that Wallace had "a broad strip [of Cressingham’s skin] ... taken from the head to the heel, to make therewith a baldrick for his sword".^[10] William Crawford led 400 Scottish heavy cavalry to complete the action by running the English out of Scotland. It is widely believed that Moray died of wounds suffered on the battlefield sometime in the winter of 1297, but an inquisition into the affairs of his uncle, Sir William Moray of Bothwell, held at Berwick in late November 1300, records he was "slain at Stirling against the king."

Upon his return from the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace was knighted along with his second-in-command John de Graham,^{[citation needed]} possibly by Robert the Bruce,^[11] and Wallace was named "Guardian of Scotland and Leader of its armies".

In the six months following Stirling Bridge, Wallace led a raid into northern England. His intent was to take the battle to English soil to demonstrate to Edward that Scotland also had the power to inflict the same sort of damage south of the border. Edward was infuriated but he refused to be intimidated.

[edit] Battle of Falkirk

A year later, Wallace lost the Battle of Falkirk. On 1 April 1298, the English invaded Scotland at Roxburgh. They plundered Lothian and regained some castles, but had failed to bring Wallace to combat. The Scots adopted a scorched earth policy in their own country, and English quartermasters' failure to prepare for the expedition left morale and food low, but Edward's search for Wallace would not end at Falkirk.

Wallace arranged his spearmen in four "schiltrons" — circular, hedgehog formations surrounded by a defensive wall of wooden stakes. The English gained the upper hand, however, attacking first with cavalry, and breaking up the Scottish archers. Under the command of the Scottish nobles, the Scottish knights withdrew, and Edward's men began to attack the schiltrons. It remains unclear whether the infantry firing bolts, arrows and stones at the spearmen proved the deciding factor, although it is very likely that it was the arrows of Edward's bowmen.

Either way, gaps in the schiltrons soon appeared, and the English exploited these to crush the remaining resistance. The Scots lost many men, including John de Graham. Wallace escaped, though his military reputation suffered badly.

By September 1298, Wallace had decided to resign as Guardian of Scotland in favour of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick (the future king) and John Comyn of Badenoch, King John Balliol's brother-in-law. Bruce became reconciled with King Edward in 1302, while Wallace spurned such moves towards peace.

According to Harry, Wallace left with William Crawford in late 1298 on a mission to the court of King Philip IV of France to plead the case for assistance in the Scottish struggle for independence. Backing this claim is a surviving letter from the French king dated 7th of November 1300 to his envoys in Rome demanding that they should help Sir William.^[12] Whether or not Wallace made it to Rome is unsure. Harry also states that on their trip down the English coast, the small convoy ran into the infamous pirate Thomas Longoville, also known as the Red Reiver for his red sails and ruthless raids. Hiding in the hold of the ship while Crawford and a small contingent of men sailed, Wallace surprised the pirates as they boarded the ship. Longoville was captured and taken to Paris where the Scots convinced Philip to grant amnesty so that Longoville could prey on English ships. This last story is one of many recorded by Blind Harry for which there is no evidence. Harry also invented a major action against Edward I at Biggar, which, though often cited, never actually occurred.

In 1303, Squire Guthrie was sent to France to ask Wallace and his men to return to Scotland, which they did that same year. They slipped in under the cover of darkness to recover on the farm of William Crawford, near Elcho Wood. Having heard rumours of Wallace's appearance in the area, the English moved in on the farm. A chase ensued and the band of men slipped away after being surrounded in Elcho Wood. Here, Wallace took the life of one of his men that he suspected of disloyalty, in order to divert the English from the trail.

In 1304 he was involved in skirmishes at Happrew and Earnside.

Plaque marking the place of Wallace's trial in Westminster Hall

[edit] Wallace's capture and execution

Wallace evaded capture by the English until 5 August 1305 when John de Menteith, a Scottish knight loyal to Edward, turned Wallace over to English soldiers at Robroyston near Glasgow. Wallace was transported to London and taken to Westminster Hall, where he was tried for treason and was crowned with a garland of oak to suggest he was the king of outlaws. He responded to the treason charge, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." With this, Wallace asserted that the absent John Balliol was officially his king. Wallace was declared guilty.

The Wallace Monument, near Stirling Castle, commemorates the actions of William Wallace during the Wars of Independence

Following the trial, on 23 August 1305, Wallace was taken from the hall, stripped naked and dragged through the city at the heels of a horse to the Elms at Smithfield. He was hanged, drawn and quartered — strangled by hanging but released whilst he was still alive, emasculated, eviscerated and his bowels burnt before him, beheaded, then cut into four parts. His preserved head (dipped in tar) was placed on a pike atop London Bridge. It was later joined by the heads of the brothers, John and Simon Fraser. His limbs were displayed, separately, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Stirling, and Aberdeen.

William Wallace Statue, Aberdeen.

A plaque stands in a wall of St. Bartholomew's Hospital near the site of Wallace's execution at Smithfield.

The Wallace Sword, which supposedly belonged to Wallace, although some parts are at least 160 years later in origin, was held for many years in Loudoun Castle and is now in the Wallace Monument near Stirling. In 2002 William Wallace was ranked #48 as one of the 100 Greatest Britons in an extensive UK poll conducted by the BBC ^[13]

[edit] Portrayal in fiction

Comprehensive and historically accurate information was written about Wallace, but many stories are based on the 15th-century minstrel Blind Harry's epic poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, written around 1470. Historians either reject almost all of the parts of Blind Harry's tale, or dismiss the entire composition. Although Blind Harry wrote from oral tradition describing events 170 years earlier, giving rise to alterations of fact, Harry's is not in any sense an authoritative description of Wallace's exploits. Indeed, hardly any of Harry's work is supported by contemporary evidence including names from land charters, the Ragman Roll, and religious and public office holders and their archives. Several modern writers note that the Bishop of St. Andrews did commission a friar to write a first-hand account of Wallace's exploits, but the existence, let alone the disposition of this manuscript is not known.^{[citation needed]}

Blind Harry's poem , for example, describes a mythical incident the "Barns of Ayr", when 360 Scottish nobles, led by Wallace’s uncle, Ronald Crawford, were summoned by the English to a conference in Spring of 1297. As each passed through a narrow entry, a rope was dropped around his neck and he was hanged. The incident as described by Blind Harry does appear in the 1995 film Braveheart with even less accuracy, placing the event in the childhood of Wallace and ignoring the murder of his uncle Crawford. Nevertheless, Ronald Crawford did die at this time and his son replaced him as Sheriff of Ayrshire, giving some credence to the story.^{[citation needed]}

In the early 19th century, Walter Scott wrote of Wallace in Exploits and Death of William Wallace, the "Hero of Scotland", and Jane Porter penned a romantic version of the Wallace legend in The Scottish Chiefs in 1810.

G. A. Henty wrote a novel in 1885 about this time period titled In Freedom's Cause. Henty, a producer of Boys Own fiction who wrote for that magazine, portrays the life of William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, The Black Douglas, and others, while dovetailing the novel with historical fiction.

Nigel Tranter wrote a historical novel titled The Wallace, published in 1975, which is said by academics to be more accurate than its literary predecessors.

A well-known account of the life of Wallace is presented in the 1995 film Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, written by Randall Wallace, and filmed in both Scotland and Ireland. Despite its many historical inaccuracies, the film was a commercial and critical success, winning five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

[edit] Sources

Barrow, G. W. S. (1989), Kingship and Unity: Scotland 1000–1306, The New History of Scotland, 2 (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-0104-X
Barrow, G. W. S. (1976), Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-85224-307-3
Barrow, G. W. S. (2003), The Kingdom of the Scots: Government, Church and Society from the eleventh to the fourteenth century (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1803-1
Brown, Michael (2004), The Wars of Scotland 1214–1371, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, 4, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1238-6
Cowan, Edward J. (2003), 'For Freedom Alone': The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320, West Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-84158-632-3
Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., eds. (2002), Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6
Cowan, Edward J., ed. (2007), The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Cowan, Edward J. (2007), "William Wallace: 'The Choice of the Estates'", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 9–25, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Duncan, A. A. M. (2007), "William, Son of Alan Wallace: The Documents", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 42–63, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Fisher, Andrew (2002), William Wallace (2nd ed.), Edinburgh: Birlinn, ISBN 1-84158-593-9
Fraser, James E. (2002), "'A Swan from a Raven': William Wallace, Brucean Propaganda and Gesta Annalia II", The Scottish Historical Review (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press) LXXXI (1): 1–22, ISSN 0036-9241
Grant, Alexander (2007), "Bravehearts and Coronets: Images of William Wallace and the Scottish Nobility", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 86–106, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
King, Elspeth (2007), "The Material Culture of William Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 117–135, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Prestwich, Michael (2007), "The Battle of Stirling Bridge: An English Perspective", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 64–76, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Riddy, Felicity (2007), "Unmapping the Territory: Blind Hary's Wallace", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 107–116, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Watson, Fiona (2002), "The Demonisation of King John", in Cowan, Edward J.; Finlay, Richard J., Scottish History: The Power of the Past, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 29–46, ISBN 0-7486-1420-6
Watson, Fiona (2007), "Sir William Wallace: What We Do — and Don't — Know", in Cowan, Edward J., The Wallace Book, Edinburgh: John Donald, pp. 26–41, ISBN 0-85976-652-4
Young, Alan (1997), Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212–1314, East Linton: Tuckwell Press, ISBN 1-86232-053-5
Brown, Chris. William Wallace. The True Story of Braveheart. Stroud: Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2005. ISBN 0-7524-3432-2.
"The Chronicle of Lanercost 1272 - 1346", ed. H. Maxwell, 1913;
Clater-Roszak, Christine. "Sir William Wallace ignited a flame." Military History 14 (1997): 12–15.
Harris, Nathaniel. Heritage of Scotland: A Cultural History of Scotland & Its People. London: Hamlyn, 2000. ISBN 0-600-59834-9.
Loudoun, Darren John. Scotland's Brave. Sydney: Paragon Books, 2007.
MacLean, Fitzroy. Scotland: A Concise History. London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. ISBN 0-500-27706-0.
Morton, Graeme. William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3523-5.
Reese, Peter. William Wallace: A Biography. Edinburgh: Canongate, 1998. ISBN 0-86241-607-8.
Scott, Sir Walter. Exploits and death of William Wallace, the 'Hero of Scotland'
Stead, Michael J., and Alan Young. In the Footsteps of William Wallace. London: Sutton, 2002.
Tranter, Nigel. The Wallace: The Compelling 13th century Story of William Wallace. McArthur & Co., 1997. ISBN 0-3402-1237-3.
Wallace, Margaret. William Wallace: Champion of Scotland. Musselborough: Goblinshead, 1999. ISBN 1-899874-19-4.
Folklore, Myths and Legends of

Ian Bannen

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:38:05 +0100

Ian Bannen

Ian Bannen

Born June 29, 1928(1928-06-29)
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK

Died November 3, 1999 (aged 71)
Knockies Straight,
near Loch Ness, Scotland

Occupation Actor

Years active 1951–1999

Spouse(s) Marilyn Salisbury (1976–1999)

Ian Bannen (June 29, 1928 – November 3, 1999) was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life and career
2 Later career
3 Partial filmography
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of Clare (née Galloway) and John James Bannan,^[1] a lawyer. Bannen served in the army and attended St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College, Leicestershire. His first acting role came in a 1947 Dublin stage production of Armlet of Jade. He became a successful figure on the London stage, making a name for himself in the plays of both Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He was an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared on Broadway as well.

His film debut occurred in the early 1950s with a small role in Pool of London (1951), and he quickly rose to prominence, primarily in a wide range of supporting roles. During the early stages of his career he worked with the Boulting Brothers on Private's Progress and Carlton-Browne of the F.O.. His performance as "Crow" in The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Scottish actor to receive this honour; he also received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year - Actor. That same year, he starred alongside Sean Connery in WW2 prison drama, The Hill. Thirty years and scores of films later, Bannen was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

[edit] Later career

Bannan turned down the lead roles in Hawaii Five-0 and Van der Valk. His notable television appearances include Doctor Finlay, Thriller, and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

Director John Schlesinger cast him as a replacement for Alan Bates in the part of well-off homosexual doctor Daniel Hirsh in his controversial film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), after Bates was deemed unavailable to shoot. According to screenwriter Penelope Gilliatt, Bannen never felt comfortable with the part; she speculated that he was flustered by the fact that he would have to kiss and simulate sex with male actor Murray Head. The anxiety adversely affected his performance during the early filming. Schlesinger had to fire him and replace him with Peter Finch, who received an Oscar nomination for the role.

Bannan received a BAFTA Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his performance as suspected child molester Kenneth Baxter in The Offence (1972). He also won acclaim for his roles as Brother Benedict in Lamb (1986), Grandfather George in John Boorman's Hope and Glory (1987) (for which he received a second "Best Supporting Actor" BAFTA nomination), the elder Robert de Brus in Braveheart (1995), and as the touchingly crafty villager in Waking Ned (1998).

The following year he died in a car accident (he was a passenger in a car driven by his wife),^[2] at Knockies Straight, near Loch Ness, aged 71. He was survived by his wife, Marilyn Salisbury, whom he had married in 1976; they had no children.

Coatbridge College have named their theatre The Ian Bannan Theatre^[3] in his memory.

[edit] Partial filmography

Pool of London (1951)
Private's Progress (1956)
The Long Arm (1956)
The Birthday Present (1957)
Yangtse Incident (1957)
Miracle in Soho (1957)
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959)
Suspect (1960)
A French Mistress (1960)
Mister Moses (1965)
The Hill (1965)
Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
Penelope (1966)
The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967)
Lock Up Your Daughters (1969)
Too Late the Hero (1970)
Fright (1971)
The Deserter (1971)
Doomwatch (1972)
The Offence (1972)
The Mackintosh Man (1973)
Il Viaggio (1974)
Identikit (1974)
The Gathering Storm (1974)
Bite the Bullet (1975)
Sweeney (1977)
Inglorious Bastards (1977)
The Watcher in the Woods (1980)
Night Crossing (1981)
Eye of the Needle (1981)
Gandhi (1982)
The Prodigal (1983)
Gorky Park (1983)
Defence of the Realm (1985)
Hope and Glory (1987)
The Courier (1988)
La Partita (1988)
The Treaty (1991)
Damage (1992)
A Pin for the Butterfly (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
Waking Ned (1998)
To Walk with Lions (1999)
Best (2000)
The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (2000)^[4]

[edit] References

^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/6/Ian-Bannan.html
^ Milne Media: Ian Wanted To Come Home When He Died
^ http://www.coatbridge.ac.uk/index.cfm/display_page/home
^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0210357/

Angus Macfadyen

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:36:57 +0100

Angus Macfadyen

Angus Macfadyen

Born 21 September 1963 (1963-09-21) (age 46)
Glasgow, Scotland

Official website

Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963)^[1] is a Scottish actor.

Angus Macfadyen was born in Glasgow and was raised partly in Africa, France, the Philippines and Singapore. His father was a doctor in the World Health Organization.^[2]

Macfadyen attended the University of Edinburgh, and the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He has played Philip in the BBC's production of The Lost Language of Cranes, Dupont in Equilibrium, Robert the Bruce in 1995's Braveheart and Jeff Reinhart in the Saw series of films as well as real-life British actors as Peter Lawford (The Rat Pack) and Richard Burton (Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story).

[edit] Filmography

Year Film Role Notes

1991 The Lost Language of Cranes Philip Benjamin TV film

Soldier Soldier Lt. Alex Pereira unknown episodes

1993 15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight David McBride TV film

1994 Two Golden Balls Dexter TV film

Takin' Over the Asylum Fergus Episodes:
"Hey Jude"
"Fly Like an Eagle"
"You Always Hurt The One You Love"
"Fool on the Hill"

1995 Braveheart Robert the Bruce

Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story Richard Burton TV film

1997 Nevada West

Warriors of Virtue Komodo

Snide and Prejudice Michael Davidson/Adolf Hitler

Still Breathing Philip

1998 Joseph's Gift Carl

The Brylcreem Boys Count Rudolph von Stegenbek

The Rat Pack Peter Lawford TV film

Lanai-Loa Turner

1999 Cradle Will Rock Orson Welles

Facade Frederic Colbert aka Death Valley

Titus Lucius

2000 Jason and the Argonauts Zeus TV film

Second Skin Sam Kane

2001 A Woman's a Helluva Thing Houston Blackett TV film

Styx Mike

2002 On the Roof Jack

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Connor McGill

Equilibrium Dupont Lead role

2003 Miracles Alva Keel 13 episodes

2004 Spartacus Marcus Crassus TV film

5ive Days to Midnight Roy Bremmer TV film

2005 The Pleasure Drivers Bill

Tilt Roy 'Mac' McEntyre Episode: "The Whale"

Murder on the Yellow Brick Road Michael Alberts

Shooting Gallery Tenderloin Tony Direct-to-video

2005, 2006 Alias Joseph Ehrmann Episodes:
"Fait Accompli"
"There's Only One Sydney Bristow"
"30 Seconds"

2006 The Virgin of Juarez Patrick Nunzio Voice

Fatwa Bobby

Blackbeard Blackbeard TV film

Scoundrels, Scallywags, and Scurvy Knaves
Direct-to-video

Saw III Jeff Reinhart

.45 Al

2007 The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud Claude TV film

Killer Wave John McAdams TV mini-series

Redline Michael

Saw IV Jeff Reinhart

2008 Impulse Jonathan Dennison/Simon Phillips Direct-to-video

Clean Break Matt McKay

San Saba Bud

Eleventh Hour Jason Cooper Episode: "Agro"

Californication Julian Episodes:
"Slip of the Tongue"
"No Way to Treat a Lady"
"The Raw & the Cooked"
"Coke Dick & First Kick"
"La Ronde"
"La Petite Mort"

2009 Shadowheart Will Tunney Direct-to-video

Pound of Flesh Patrick Kelly

2010 Shadows of the White Nights Richard post-production

[edit] References

^ Biodata
^ Angus Articles

Patrick McGoohan - King Edward I of England

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:32:35 +0100

Patrick McGoohan

Patrick McGoohan

Born March 19, 1928(1928-03-19)
Astoria, Queens,
New York, United States

Died January 13, 2009 (aged 80)
Santa Monica, California,
United States

Years active 1955–2002

Spouse(s) Joan Drummond
(1951–2009)

Patrick Joseph McGoohan (March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009)^[1] was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent when exported to the US),^[2] and The Prisoner.^[2] McGoohan wrote and directed several episodes of The Prisoner himself, occasionally using the pseudonyms Joseph Serf and Paddy Fitz.^[3] He subsequently appeared in David Cronenberg's Scanners, and in Mel Gibson's Braveheart as Edward Longshanks.

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Acting career
3 Death
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

McGoohan was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, to Thomas McGoohan and Rose Fitzpatrick, who were living in the United States after emigrating from Ireland to look for work. Shortly after he was born, McGoohan's parents moved back to Mullaghmore, County Leitrim, Ireland, and, seven years later, they moved to Sheffield, England. McGoohan attended De La Salle school in Sheffield, but following the outbreak of World War II he was evacuated to Loughborough, Leicestershire. There he attended Ratcliffe College, where he excelled in mathematics and boxing.

[edit] Acting career

McGoohan left school aged sixteen and returned to Sheffield where he worked as a chicken farmer, a bank clerk and a lorry driver before getting a job as a stage manager at Sheffield Repertory Theatre. When one of the actors became ill, McGoohan filled in, launching his acting career.

He fell for an actress named Joan Drummond, to whom he reportedly wrote love notes every day. They were married on May 19, 1951. They had three daughters, Catherine (born 1952), Anne (born 1959) and Frances (born 1960).

In 1955, McGoohan starred in a West End production of a play called Serious Charge in the role of a priest accused of being gay. Orson Welles was so impressed by McGoohan's stage presence ("intimidated," Welles said later) that he cast him as Starbuck in his York theatre production of Moby Dick Rehearsed.

While working as a stand-in during actress screen tests, McGoohan was signed to a contract with the Rank Organisation, the largest European production company between 1930 and 1960. The producers may have been more interested in capitalizing on his boxing skill and appearance than his acting ability, casting him as the conniving bad boy in such films as the gritty Hell Drivers and the steamy potboiler The Gypsy and the Gentleman, and after a few films and some clashes with the management, the contract was dissolved.

Free of the contract, he did some TV work, winning a BAFTA in 1959 and continued on the stage in his favourite role, Ibsen's Brand, for which he received an award. Soon, producer Lew Grade approached him about a TV series in which he would play a spy named John Drake. Having learned from his experience at the Rank Organisation, McGoohan insisted on several conditions in his contract before agreeing to appear in the program: all the fistfights should be different, the character would always use his brain before using a gun, and, much to the horror of the executives, no kissing.

The first series, half-hour shows geared toward an American audience, did fairly well but not as well as hoped in the US. It lasted only one year but was rerun in several countries and gained cult status worldwide. After the series was over, one interviewer asked McGoohan if he would have liked the series to continue, to which he replied, "I would rather do twenty TV series than go through what I went through under that Rank contract I signed a few years ago for which I blame no one but myself."

McGoohan spent some time working for Disney on The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.^[4] He had already turned down the roles of James Bond and Simon Templar (The Saint) when Lew Grade asked him if he would like to give John Drake another try. This time, McGoohan had even more say about the series; it was expanded to an hour and the writing was changed to allow McGoohan more acting range. The popularity of the series exploded. McGoohan became the highest paid actor in the UK^[5] and the show lasted almost three more seasons.

After shooting the first two episodes for the fourth season in colour, McGoohan told Lew Grade he was going to quit. Grade asked if he would at least work on "something" for him, and McGoohan gave him a run-down of what would later be called a miniseries about a secret agent who resigns suddenly and wakes up to find himself in a prison disguised as a holiday resort. Grade asked for a budget, McGoohan had one ready, and they made a deal over a handshake early on a Saturday morning to produce The Prisoner.

McGoohan not only produced, but also wrote, directed and starred in the show. He used two pseudonyms, writing "Free for All" as Paddy Fitz and directing "Many Happy Returns" and "A Change of Mind" as Joseph Serf. He also wrote "Once Upon A Time" and "Fall Out" using his own name. The seven episodes were increased to seventeen.

The main character spends the entire series trying to escape from The Village and to learn the identity of his nemesis, Number One. The Prisoner was a completely new, cerebral kind of series, stretching the limits of the established television formulas. Its influence has been echoed in Lost, Babylon 5, Nowhere Man, I-man, The Truman Show, The Simpsons, ReBoot, even American Idol teaser ads.

The main character, the unnamed Number Six, became McGoohan's most recognisable character. Unfortunately, it also became his prison. Number Six was so obsessively pro-individual that whenever McGoohan later played someone who had something to say about individuality or freedom, the character was often compared to his previous incarnation; for example, his portrayal of the warden in Escape from Alcatraz. "Mel Gibson will always be Mad Max, and me, I will always be a Number," he was once quoted as saying.

The cult of The Prisoner spawned many books, college courses, a quarterly magazine and documentaries. There were several fan clubs - most notably "Six of One," which honours the show annually with a convention in Portmeirion, Wales, where the show's exteriors were shot. McGoohan was the honorary president. In the May 30, 2004 edition of TV Guide, The Prisoner was ranked seventh in a list of the "25 Top Rated Cult Shows Ever!" McGoohan's show outranked the likes of The Twilight Zone (#8) and Doctor Who (#18). TV Guide wrote, "Fans still puzzle over this weird, enigmatic drama, a Kafkaesque allegory about the individual's struggle in the modern age."

McGoohan appeared in many films, including Howard Hughes's favourite, Ice Station Zebra, for which he was critically acclaimed, and Silver Streak, with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In 1977, he starred in the TV series Rafferty playing a former army doctor who has retired and moved into private practice. Many people consider this series a forerunner to House, M.D.^[6]

McGoohan received two Emmy Awards for his work on Columbo with his long-time friend Peter Falk. He directed five Columbo episodes (including three of the four in which he played the murderer) and wrote and produced two (including one of these). He also appeared in the 1981 film Scanners, a science fiction/horror film by Canadian director David Cronenberg that has since attained cult movie status.

In 1991, he starred in Masterpiece Theatre's production of The Best of Friends for PBS, which told the story of the unlikely friendship between a museum curator, a nun and a playwright. McGoohan played George Bernard Shaw alongside Sir John Gielgud as Sydney Cockerell and Dame Wendy Hiller as Sister Laurentia McLachlan.

He was most recognized by a later generation of fans as the Machiavellian King Edward "Longshanks" from the 1995 Oscar-winning Braveheart. In 1996, he appeared as Judge Omar Noose in A Time to Kill. He directed Richie Havens in a rock-opera version of Othello called Catch My Soul.

In 1996, he appeared in Paramount's big budget cinema adaptation of The Phantom comic strip, playing the father of the title character (played by Billy Zane).

In 2000, he reprised his role as Number Six in an episode of The Simpsons, "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". In it, Homer Simpson concocts a news story to make his website more popular, and he wakes up in a prison disguised as a holiday resort. Dubbed Number Five, he befriends Number Six and escapes with his boat.

McGoohan's last film was a voice role in the animated film Treasure Planet, released in 2002. That same year, he received the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award for The Prisoner.

McGoohan's name was linked to several aborted attempts at producing a new motion picture version of The Prisoner. In 2002, director Simon West (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) was signed to helm a version of the story. McGoohan was listed as executive producer on the project, which never came to fruition. More recently, director Christopher Nolan attached to a proposed film version. However, the source material remained difficult and elusive to adapt into a feature film. Ultimately, a reimagining of the series was filmed for the AMC network in late 2008, with broadcast taking place in November 2009; McGoohan was not involved in the project.

McGoohan was one of several actors considered for the role of James Bond in Dr. No (along with future Bond actor Roger Moore). Part of McGoohan's popular legend is that he turned down the role on moral grounds (the same grounds that would affect how he played John Drake). Ironically, the success of the Bond films is generally cited as the reason for Danger Man being revived in 1964, which led in turn to The Prisoner.

Despite his extensive British stage experience, he appeared on Broadway only once. In 1985, he starred opposite Rosemary Harris in Hugh Whitemore's Pack of Lies, in which he played a British intelligence agent. McGoohan was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Best Actor.

A biography of the actor was published in 2007 by Tomahawk Press.^[7]

[edit] Death

Wikinews has related news: US actor Patrick McGoohan dead at age 80

McGoohan died on January 13, 2009 at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, following a brief illness. His remains were cremated.^[8]

[edit] References

^ Dalton, Andrew. "'Prisoner' actor Patrick McGoohan dies in LA". Associated Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hls8g79toC_XSUxWXSHcbe8n9ergD95N1HBG0. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
^ ^a ^b ""Prisoner" Star Patrick McGoohan Dies". CBS News. January 14, 2009. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/14/entertainment/main4722806.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
^ "Patrick McGoohan". Internet Movie DataBase. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001526/. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
^ ""Disneyland" The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh: Part 1 (1963)". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055929/. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
^ Don't Knock Yourself Out, Network, 2007
^ TV.com: Rafferty
^ [1]"Patrick McGoohan: Danger Man or Prisoner? by Roger Langley"
^ McClellan, Dennis. "Patrick McGoohan, TV's 'Secret Agent' and 'Prisoner,' dies". http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-patrick-mcgoohan15-2009jan15,0,7494270.story.

Mel Gibson - William Wallace

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 06:29:27 +0100

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

at the 1990 Air America premiere

Born Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson
January 3, 1956 (1956-01-03) (age 53)
Peekskill, New York, U.S.

Occupation Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter

Years active 1976–present

Spouse(s) Robyn Moore (m. 1980–present)

Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3, 1956) is an American Australian actor, film director and producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

After appearing in the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon series, Gibson went on to direct and star in the Academy Award-winning Braveheart. Gibson's direction of Braveheart made him the sixth actor-turned-filmmaker to receive an Academy Award for Best Director.^[1] In 2004, he directed and produced The Passion of the Christ, a controversial^[2] but successful^[3] film that portrayed the last hours of the life of Jesus Christ. The movies he has acted in have grossed more than two billion dollars in the U.S. alone.^[4]

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Stage
2.2 Australian television and cinema
2.3 Hollywood
2.3.1 Early Hollywood years
2.3.2 1990s
2.3.3 After 2000

2.4 Producer
2.5 Director

3 Honors
4 Landmark films
4.1 Mad Max series
4.2 Gallipoli
4.3 The Year of Living Dangerously
4.4 The Bounty
4.5 Lethal Weapon series
4.6 Hamlet
4.7 Braveheart
4.8 The Passion of the Christ
4.9 Apocalypto

5 Future films
6 Personal life
6.1 Family
6.2 Investments
6.3 Religious and political views
6.3.1 Faith
6.3.2 Politics

6.4 Allegations of homophobia
6.5 Allegations of anti-Semitism
6.6 Prankster
6.7 Alcohol abuse
6.8 Philanthropy

7 Filmography and awards
7.1 Other awards and accomplishments

8 References
9 Bibliography
10 External links

Early life

Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children, and the second son of Hutton Gibson and Irish-born Anne Reilly. His paternal grandmother was the Australian opera soprano, Eva Mylott (1875–1920).^[5] One of Gibson's younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor. Gibson's first name comes from Saint Mel, fifth-century Irish saint, and founder of Gibson's mother's native diocese, Ardagh, while his second name, Colm-Cille,^[6] is shared by an Irish saint^[7] and is name of the parish in County Longford where Anne Reilly was born and raised. Because of his mother, Gibson holds dual Irish and American citizenship.^[8]

Soon after being awarded $145,000 in a work-related-injury lawsuit against New York Central Railroad on February 14, 1968, Hutton Gibson relocated his family to Sydney, Australia.^[9] Gibson was 12 years old at the time. The move to Hutton's mother's native Australia was for economic reasons, and because Hutton thought the Australian military would reject his oldest son for the Vietnam War draft.^[10]

Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St. Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, during his high school years.

Career

Gibson gained very favorable notices from film critics when he first entered the cinematic scene as well as comparisons to several classic movie stars. In 1982, Vincent Canby wrote that “Mr. Gibson recalls the young Steve McQueen… I can't define "star quality," but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it.”^[11] Gibson has also been likened to “a combination Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart.”^[12] Gibson's physical appearance made him a natural for leading male roles in action projects such as the "Mad Max" series of films, Peter Weir's Gallipoli, and the "Lethal Weapon" series of films. Later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. His most artistic and financial success came with films where he expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, such as 1993's The Man Without a Face, 1995's Braveheart, 2000's The Patriot (acted only), 2004's The Passion of the Christ and 2006's Apocalypto. Gibson was considered for roles in Batman, GoldenEye, Amadeus, The Golden Child, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Runaway Bride and Primary Colors.^{[citation needed]} Actor Sean Connery once suggested Gibson should play the next James Bond to Connery's M. Gibson turned down the role, reportedly because he feared being typecast.^[13]

Stage

Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney. The students at NIDA were classically trained in the British-theater tradition rather than in preparation for screen acting.^[14] As students, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and Gibson played the role of Queen Titania in an experimental production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[15] After graduation in 1977, Gibson immediately began work on the filming of Mad Max, but continued to work as a stage actor, and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide. Gibson’s theatrical credits include the character Estragon (opposite Geoffrey Rush) in Waiting for Godot, and the role of Biff Loman in a 1982 production of Death of a Salesman in Sydney. Gibson’s most recent theatrical performance, opposite Sissy Spacek, was the 1993 production of Love Letters by A. R. Gurney, in Telluride, Colorado.^[16]

Australian television and cinema

While a student at NIDA, Gibson made his film debut in the 1977 film Summer City, for which he was paid $250. Gibson also played a mentally-slow youth in Tim, which earned him the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The release of Mad Max in 1979 brought Gibson to mainstream attention.

During this period Gibson also appeared in Australian television series guest roles on programs The Sullivans, Cop Shop (in 1980), and in the pilot episode of Punishment (produced in 1980, screened 1981).

Gibson joined the cast of the World War II action film Attack Force Z, which was not released until 1982 when Gibson had become a bigger star. Director Peter Weir cast Gibson as one of the leads in the critically-acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli, which earned Gibson another Best Actor Award from the Australian Film Institute. The film Gallipoli also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor and gained him the Hollywood agent Ed Limato. The sequel Mad Max 2 was his first hit in America (released as The Road Warrior). In 1982 Gibson again attracted critical acclaim in Peter Weir’s romantic thriller The Year of Living Dangerously. Following a year hiatus from film acting after the birth of his twin sons, Gibson took on the role of Fletcher Christian in The Bounty in 1984. Playing Max Rockatansky for the third time in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985 earned Gibson his first million dollar salary.^[17]

Hollywood

Early Hollywood years

Mel Gibson's first American film was Mark Rydell’s 1984 drama The River, in which he and Sissy Spacek played struggling Tennessee farmers. Gibson then starred in the gothic romance Mrs. Soffel for Australian director Gillian Armstrong. He and Matthew Modine played condemned convict brothers opposite Diane Keaton as the warden's wife who visits them to read the Bible. In 1985, after working on four films in a row, Gibson took almost two years off at his Australian cattle ranch. He returned to play the role of Martin Riggs in Lethal Weapon, a film which helped to cement his status as a Hollywood star. Gibson's next film was Robert Towne’s Tequila Sunrise, followed by Lethal Weapon 2 in 1989. After starring in three films back-to-back, Bird on a Wire, Air America, and Hamlet, Gibson took another hiatus from Hollywood.

1990s

During the 1990s, Gibson used his boxoffice power to alternate between commercial and personal projects. His films in the first half of the decade were Forever Young, Lethal Weapon 3, Maverick, and Braveheart. He then starred in Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, Lethal Weapon 4, and Payback. Gibson also served as the speaking and singing voice of John Smith in Disney’s Pocahontas.

After 2000

In 2000, Gibson acted in three films that each grossed over $100 million: The Patriot, Chicken Run, and What Women Want. In 2002, Gibson appeared in the Vietnam War drama We Were Soldiers and M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, which became the highest-grossing film of Gibson’s acting career.^[18] While promoting Signs, Gibson said that he no longer wanted to be a movie star and would only act in film again if the script were truly extraordinary. Gibson is currently filming Edge of Darkness, which marks his first starring role since 2002.^[19]

Producer

After his success in Hollywood with the Lethal Weapon series, Gibson began to move into producing and directing. With partner Bruce Davey, Gibson formed Icon Productions in 1989 in order to make Hamlet. In addition to producing or co-producing many of Gibson's own star vehicles, Icon has turned out many other small films, ranging from Immortal Beloved to An Ideal Husband. Gibson has taken supporting roles in some of these films, such as The Million Dollar Hotel and The Singing Detective to improve their commercial prospects. Gibson has also produced a number of projects for television, including a biopic on The Three Stooges and the 2008 PBS documentary Carrier. Icon has grown beyond just a production company to an international distribution company and a film exhibitor in Australia and New Zealand.

Director

Mel Gibson has credited his directors, particularly George Miller, Peter Weir, and Richard Donner, with teaching him the craft of filmmaking and influencing him as a director. According to Robert Downey, Jr., studio executives encouraged Gibson in 1989 to try directing, an idea he rebuffed at the time.^[20] Gibson made his directorial debut in 1993 with The Man Without a Face, followed two years later by Braveheart, which earned Gibson the Academy Award for Best Director. Gibson had long planned to direct a remake of Fahrenheit 451, but in 1999 the project was indefinitely postponed because of scheduling conflicts.^[21] Gibson was scheduled to direct Robert Downey, Jr. in a Los Angeles stage production of Hamlet in January 2001, but Downey's drug relapse ended the project.^[22] In 2002, while promoting We Were Soldiers and Signs to the press, Gibson mentioned that he was planning to pare back on acting and return to directing.^[23] In September 2002, Gibson announced that he would direct a film called The Passion in Aramaic and Latin with no subtitles because he hoped to "transcend language barriers with filmic storytelling."^[24] In 2004, he released the controversial film The Passion of the Christ, which he co-wrote, co-produced, and directed. Gibson directed a few episodes of Complete Savages for the ABC network. In 2006, he directed the action-adventure film Apocalypto, his second film to feature sparse dialogue in a non-English language.

Honors

On July 25, 1997, Gibson was named an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), in recognition of his "service to the Australian film industry". The award was honorary because substantive awards are made only to Australian citizens.^[25]^[26] In 1985, Gibson was named "The Sexiest Man Alive" by People, the first person to be named so.^[27] Gibson quietly declined the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres from the French government in 1995 as a protest against France's resumption of nuclear testing in the Southwest Pacific.^[28] Time magazine chose Mel Gibson and Michael Moore as Men of the Year in 2004, but Gibson turned down the photo session and interview, and the cover went instead to George W. Bush.^[29]

Landmark films

Mad Max series

Main article: Mad Max

Gibson got his breakthrough role as the leather-clad post-apocalyptic survivor in George Miller's Mad Max. The independently-financed blockbuster earned Gibson $15,000 and helped to make him an international star everywhere but in the United States, where the actors' Australian accents were dubbed with American accents. The original film spawned two sequels: Mad Max 2 (known in North America as The Road Warrior), and Mad Max 3 (known in North America as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). A fourth movie, Mad Max 4: Fury Road, is in development, but both Gibson and George Miller have indicated that the starring role would go to a younger actor.^[30]

Gallipoli

Main article: Gallipoli (1981)

Gibson played the role of the cynical Frank Dunne alongside co-star Mark Lee in the 1981 Peter Weir film. Gallipoli is about several young men from rural Western Australia who enlist in the Australian Army during the First World War. They are sent to Turkey, where they take part in the Gallipoli Campaign. During the course of the movie, the young men slowly lose their innocence about the purpose of war. The climax of the movie occurs on the ANZAC battlefield at Gallipoli and depicts the brutal attack at the Nek. The critically-acclaimed film helped to further launch Gibson's career. He won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role from the Australian Film Institute.

The Year of Living Dangerously

Main article: The Year of Living Dangerously

Gibson played a naïve but ambitious journalist opposite Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hunt in Peter Weir’s atmospheric 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously, based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Koch. The movie was both a critical and commercial success, and the upcoming Australian actor was heavily marketed by MGM studio. In his review of the film, Vincent Canby of the New York Times wrote, "If this film doesn't make an international star of Mr. Gibson, then nothing will. He possesses both the necessary talent and the screen presence."^[31]

Gibson was initially reluctant to accept the role of Guy Hamilton. "I didn't necessarily see my role as a great challenge. My character was, like the film suggests, a puppet. And I went with that. It wasn't some star thing, even though they advertised it that way."^[32] Gibson saw some similarities between himself and the character of Guy. "He's not a silver-tongued devil. He's kind of immature and he has some rough edges and I guess you could say the same for me."^[12] Gibson has cited this screen performance as his personal favorite.

The Bounty

Main article: The Bounty

Gibson followed the footsteps of Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, and Marlon Brando by starring as Fletcher Christian in a cinematic retelling of the mutiny on the Bounty. The resulting 1984 film The Bounty is considered to be the most historically accurate version. However, Gibson thinks that the film's revisionism did not go far enough. He stated that his character should have been portrayed as more of a villain and described Anthony Hopkins's performance as William Bligh as the best aspect of the film.^[32]

Lethal Weapon series

Main article: Lethal Weapon

Gibson moved into more mainstream commercial filmmaking with the popular buddy cop Lethal Weapon series, which began with the 1987 original. In the films he played LAPD Detective Martin Riggs, a recently widowed Vietnam veteran with a death wish and a penchant for violence and gunplay. In the films, he is partnered with a reserved family man named Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover). Following the success of Lethal Weapon, director Richard Donner and principal cast revisited the characters in three sequels, Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Lethal Weapon 3 (1993), and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). This series would come to exemplify the subgenre of the buddy film.

Hamlet

Main article: Hamlet (1990 film)

Gibson made the unusual transition from the action to classical genres, playing the melancholic Danish prince in Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet. Gibson was cast alongside such experienced Shakespearean actors as Ian Holm, Alan Bates, and Paul Scofield. He described working with his fellow cast members as similar to being "thrown into the ring with Mike Tyson".

The film met with critical and marketing success and remains steady in DVD sales. It also marked the transformation of Mel Gibson from action hero to serious actor and filmmaker.

Braveheart

Main article: Braveheart

Mel Gibson directed, produced, and starred in Braveheart, an epic telling of the legend of Sir William Wallace, a 13th century martyr of Scottish nationalism. Gibson received two Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture for his second directorial effort. Braveheart influenced the Scottish nationalism movement and helped to revive the film genre of the historical epic. The Battle of Stirling Bridge sequence in Braveheart is considered by critics to be one of the all-time best directed battle scenes.^[33]

The Passion of the Christ

Main article: The Passion of the Christ

Gibson directed, produced, co-wrote, and self-funded the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, which chronicled the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The cast spoke the languages of Aramaic, Latin, and Hebrew. Although Gibson originally announced his intention to release the film without subtitles; he relented on this point for theatrical exhibition. The highly controversial film sparked divergent reviews, ranging from high praise to criticism of the violence to charges of anti-Semitism. The movie grossed US$611,899,420 worldwide and $370,782,930 in the US alone, surpassing any motion picture starring Gibson. In US box offices, it became the eighth highest-grossing film in history and the highest-grossing rated R film of all time. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and won the People's Choice Award for Best Drama.

Apocalypto

Main article: Apocalypto

Gibson further established his reputation as a director with his 2006 action-adventure film Apocalypto. Gibson's fourth directorial effort is set in Mesoamerica during the early 16th century against the turbulent end times of a Maya civilization. The sparse dialogue is spoken in the Yucatec Maya language by a cast of Native American descent.

Future films

In March 2007, Gibson told a screening audience that he was preparing another script with Farhad Safinia about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).^[34] Gibson's company has long owned the rights to The Professor and the Madman, which tells the story of the creation of the OED.^[35]

Gibson has dismissed the rumors that he is considering directing a film about Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa.^[36]^[37]^[38] Asked in September 2007 if he planned to return to acting and specifically to action roles, Gibson said:

"I think I’m too old for that, but you never know. I just like telling stories. Entertainment is valid and I guess I’ll probably do it again before it's over. You know, do something that people won’t get mad with me for."^[39]

Gibson is next acting in a film adaptation of the BBC miniseries, Edge of Darkness. This will be his first starring role since Signs back in 2002.^[40] Edge of Darkness is currently in post-production and is slated for a January 29, 2010 release.

In 2005, the film “Sam and George” was announced as the seventh collaboration between director Richard Donner and Gibson. In February 2009, Donner said that this Paramount project was “dead,” ^[41] but that he and Gibson were planning another film based on an original script by Brian Helgeland for production in fall 2009.^[42]

Gibson filmed The Beaver, a film directed by former Maverick co-star, Jodie Foster in 2009.^[43]

Personal life

Family

Gibson met Robyn Denise Moore in the late 1970s soon after filming Mad Max when they were both tenants at a house in Adelaide. At the time, Robyn was a dental nurse and Mel was an unknown actor working for the South Australian Theatre Company.^[44] On June 7, 1980, they were married in a Catholic church in Forestville, New South Wales.^[45] The couple have one daughter, six sons, and two grandchildren.^[46] Their seven children are Hannah (born 1980), twins Edward and Christian (born 1982), William (born 1985), Louis (born 1988), Milo (born 1990), and Thomas (born 1999).

Daughter Hannah Gibson married blues musician Kenny Wayne Shepherd on September 16, 2006.^[47]^[48] Gibson's spokesman previously had denied a rumor that Hannah was planning to become a nun.^[49]

After nearly three years of separation, Robyn Gibson filed for divorce on April 13, 2009, citing irreconcilable differences. In a joint statement, the Gibsons declared, "Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so."^[6]

Gibson's girlfriend, Russian musician Oksana Grigorieva, has a son with former boyfriend, actor Timothy Dalton.^[50] On October 30, 2009, Grigorieva gave birth to their daughter, Lucia. ^[51]

Investments

Gibson has an avid interest in property investments, with multiple properties in Malibu, California, several locations in Costa Rica, a private island in Sophie Marceau

Sophie Marceau

Born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu
17 November 1966 (1966-11-17) (age 43)
Paris, France

Years active 1980–present

Spouse(s) Andrzej Żuławski (?–2001)

Domestic partner(s) Jim Lemley
Christopher Lambert (2007–present)

Sophie Marceau (French pronunciation: [sɔfi maʁso]; born 17 November 1966) is a French actress, who has appeared in 35 films. During her teens, Marceau achieved popularity by her debut films La Boum (1980) and La Boum 2 (1982), for which she received a César Award for Most Promising Actress. In addition to her French language films, she has worked in international films such as Braveheart (1995) and as a Bond Girl in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Early film career
2.2 International success

3 Author and director
4 Personal life
5 Filmography
5.1 Actress
5.2 Writer and director

6 References
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Marceau was born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu in Paris, France, the second child of Simone (née Morisset), a shop assistant, and Benoît Maupu, a truck driver.^[1]^[2] The family lived a working-class existence that left Marceau with generally fond memories of childhood. During the week, she helped at the family restaurant. She spent weekends with her family in La Cabane, a small house in Vert-le-Petit in the department Essonne. Her parents divorced when she was nine.^[3]

[edit] Career

In February 1980, Marceau and her mother came across a model agency looking for teenagers. Marceau had photos taken at the agency but did not think anything would come of it. At the same time, Françoise Menidrey, the casting director for Claude Pinoteau's La Boum (1980), asked modeling agencies to recommend a new teenager for the project. After viewing the rushes, Alain Poiré, the director of the Gaumont Film Company, signed Marceau to a long-term contract. La Boum was a hit not only in France, where 4.5 million tickets were sold, but several other European countries and Japan.

In 1981, Marceau made her singing debut with French singer François Valéry on "Dream in Blue," written by Delanoë.

[edit] Early film career

In 1982, at the age of 16, Marceau bought back her contract with Gaumont for one million French francs^[4]. She borrowed most of the money. After starring in the sequel film La Boum 2 in 1982, Marceau focused on more dramatic roles, including Fort Saganne (co-starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve) and Joyeuse Pâques (Happy Easter) in 1984, L'Amour Braque and Police in 1985, and Descente aux Enfers (Descent Into Hell) in 1986. In 1988, she starred in L'Etudiante (The Student) and Chouans!. That year, Marceau was named Best Romantic Actress at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role in Chouans.^[5]

In 1989, she starred in Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights are more Beautiful than your Days), which was directed by her long-time boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski. In 1990, she starred in Pacific Palisades and La Note Bleue, her third film directed by her companion. In 1991, she ventured into the theater in Eurydice, which earned Marceau the Moliere Award for Best Female Newcomer.^[5]

Marceau began making less-dramatic films, such as the comedy Fanfan in 1993 and La Fille de D'Artagnan in 1994 — both popular in Europe and abroad. That year, she returned to the theatre as Eliza Dolittle in Pygmalion.^[5]

[edit] International success

Marceau achieved international recognition in 1995 as Princess Isabelle in Mel Gibson's Braveheart. That year, she was part of an ensemble of international actors in the French film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders, Beyond the Clouds.

In 1997, she continued with William Nicholson's Firelight, filmed in England, Véra Belmont's Marquise, filmed in France, and Bernard Rose's Anna Karenina.

She played Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999). She became a villainess Bond girl by playing Elektra King in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

Marceau teamed up again with her then-boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski to film La Fidélité in 2000.^[5]

[edit] Author and director

In 1995, Marceau wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, Menteuse (engl. translation Telling Lies published in 2001), in which the narrator is a beautiful actress who is confident in her beauty and talent and yet insecure. The unnamed narrator takes the reader into a world of memories, fantasies, and impressions, but never reveals herself completely. Marceau's work was described as "an exploration of female identity".^[3] Marceau describes what the narrator is going through:

It's the day of separation, and from that second she realises she has gone, like an everyday lifetime with memories coming back. Because she's in the middle of something new that hasn't been yet, and something done already. How time can be elastic; how it can betray you, be capricious and play with you.^[6]

In 2002, Marceau made her directorial debut in the feature film Speak to Me of Love for which she was named Best Director at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film starred Judith Godrèche. It was her second effort at directing (she made the nine-minute short film L'Aube à l'envers in 1995, which also starred Godrèche).^[7] Entering the 2005 Cannes Film Festival award ceremony, the shoulder strap on Marceau's dress fell off, exposing her bosom.^[8]

[edit] Personal life

Marceau had a 17 year relationship with director Andrzej Żuławski, who is 26 years her senior. Their son Vincent was born in June 1995. In 2001, Marceau separated from Zulawski and became involved with producer Jim Lemley and later gave birth to her second child, Juliette, born in London in 2002. She is now dating actor Christopher Lambert.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Actress

La Boum (The Party) (1980) – Victoire Beretton
La Boum 2 (1982)
Fort Saganne (1984) – Madeleine de Saint-Ilette
Joyeuses Pâques (Happy Easter) (1984) – Julie
L'Amour braque (Mad Love) (1985) – Mary
Police (Police) (1985) – Norya
Descente aux enfers (Descent Into Hell) (1986) – Lola Kolber
L'Étudiante (The Student) (1988) – Valentine Ezquerra
Chouans! (1988) – Céline
Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (My Nights are more Beautiful than your Days) (1989) – Blanche
Pacific Palisades (1990) – Bernadette
Pour Sacha (For Sacha) (1991) – Laura
La Note bleue (The Blue Note) (1991) – Solange Sand
Fanfan (Fanfan & Alexandre) (1993) – Fanfan
La Fille de d'Artagnan (D'Artagnan's Daughter) (1994) – Eloïse d'Artagnan
Braveheart (1995) – Princess Isabelle
Beyond the Clouds (Al di là delle nuvole) (1995)
Anna Karenina (1997) – Anna Karenina
Marquise (1997, by Véra Belmont) – Marquise du Parc
Firelight (1997, by William Nicholson) – Élisabeth Laurier
Lost & Found (1999) – Lila Dubois
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) – Hippolyta
The World Is Not Enough (1999) – Elektra King
La Fidélité (Fidelity) (2000) – Clélia
Belphégor – Le fantôme du Louvre (Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre) (2001) – Lisa
Alex and Emma (2003) – Polina Delacroix
Je reste! (2003) – Marie-Dominique Delpire
Les clefs de bagnole (The Car Keys) (2003)
A ce soir (2004) – Nelly
Anthony Zimmer (2005) – Chiara Manzoni
La Disparue de Deauville (2007) – Lucie/Victoria
Les Femmes de l'Ombre (Female Agents) (2008)
LOL (Laughing out loud) (2008)
De l'autre côté du lit (2008)
Don't Look Back (2009)

[edit] Writer and director

L'Aube à l'envers (short film) (1995)
Speak to Me of Love (2002)
La Disparue de Deauville (2007)

[edit] References

^ Sophie Marceau Biography (1966-)
^ "Sophie Marceau: Fatal attraction". The Independent. 21 June 2008. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/sophie-marceau-fatal-attraction-850871.html.
^ ^a ^b Billen, Andrew. "Lies and loves of ma belle Marceau," Sunday Herald, June 10, 2001.
^ Janis L. Pallister, Ruth A. Hottell: Francophone Women Film Directors: A Guide. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press 2005, ISBN 9780838640463, p. 262
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Net Glimpse, Retrieved on December 1, 2007
^ Bennett, Oliver (May 31, 2001). "Sophie Marceau — The Left Bank ambassador of charm". The Independent.
^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112411/
^ "Features". The First Post. November 2, 2006. http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/?menuID=2&subID=1062&p=4.

[edit] External links

Sophie Marceau at the Internet Movie Database
Sophie Marceau at Allmovie
Sophie Marceau at Yahoo! Movies

Catherine McCormack - wife of William Wallace

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:27:08 +0100

Catherine McCormack

Catherine McCormack

Born 1 January 1972 (1972-01-01) (age 37)
Alton, Hampshire, England, UK

Catherine McCormack (born 1 January 1972) is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Film
2.2 Theatre

3 Selected credits
3.1 Theatre work
3.2 Filmography

4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

McCormack was born in Alton, Hampshire, England. She has Irish ancestry, as one of her grandfathers was Irish.^[1] Her mother died of lupus when McCormack was six years old, and her steelworker father subsequently raised her as well as her brother Stephen.^[2] She was brought up in the Catholic religion (though is now a "lapsed Catholic")^[3] and attended Convent of Our Lady of Providence. She then went on to study at the Oxford School of Drama.^[4]

[edit] Career

[edit] Film

McCormack's first notable role was as the character Murron MacClannough in the multiple Academy Award winning movie Braveheart. Her screen debut however was as the lead in the Anna Campion directed film Loaded, and has subsequently stated that she had a "miserable time with the director (Anna Campion)... it was my first film job, I needed to be mollycoddled, I needed to be helped through it, and I wasn't. Mostly, it was a horrible experience."^[2] After Braveheart, McCormack had lead roles in Nils Gaup's Northstar and Marshall Herskovitz's Dangerous Beauty. Other films include Spy Game and 28 Weeks Later. Despite being in demand, she does few films, stating that "I read very few scripts I'm passionate about... Maybe one in every twenty or thirty."^[5]

[edit] Theatre

McCormack has shown preference in her career towards the theatre,^[2] saying that "theatre really is an actor's medium: you're on stage with no director anymore, whereas in film very rarely do you get much rehearsal other than running through the scene very quickly. Then everyone comes in and shoots it."^[6] McCormack was one of the original 2006 London cast of Patrick Barlow's play of The 39 Steps.^[7] In 2008, she performed the role of Nora in A Doll's House,^[8] directed by Peter Hall at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and also the role of Isabel Archer in a stage adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady,^[9] both of which commenced their runs in July 2008, ending in August, before transferring to the Rose Theatre in Kingston later that year.

In 2009 she will appear in the UK tour of Headlong's adaptation of Six Characters in Search of an Author.

[edit] Selected credits

[edit] Theatre work

2000: Nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in All My Sons at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe Stage.
2003: Played Claudia in the UK premiere of Honour, a play by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Royal National Theatre, London.
2003: Played Siân in Dinner, a new play by Moira Buffini. It co-starred Harriet Walter and Nicholas Farrell.
2006: Played The Woman in The 39 Steps at the Tricycle Theatre and Criterion Theatre, London.
2007: Jo in The Lady from Dubuque at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
2008: A Doll's House/ The Portrait of a Lady at the Theatre Royal, Bath & Rose Theatre, Kingston.

[edit] Filmography

Loaded (1994)
Wycliffe (1 episode, "The Scapegoat", 1994)
Braveheart (1995)
North Star (1996)
Deacon Brodie (1997) (TV)
The Land Girls (1998)
Dangerous Beauty (1998)
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
This Year's Love (1999)
Love in the 21st Century (1 episode, "Reproduction", 1999)
The Debtors (1999)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
A Rumor of Angels (2000)
The Weight of Water (2000)
Born Romantic (2000)
The Tailor of Panama (2001)
Armadillo (2001, TV)
Spy Game (2001)
Broken Morning (2003, TV)
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004, TV)
Strings (2004; voice in English version)
Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005, TV)
A Sound of Thunder (2005)
Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes (2006, TV)
Renaissance (2006, voice)
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (1 episode, "Nero", 2006)
The Moon and the Stars (2007)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Midnight Man (2008)

[edit] References

^ http://www.macbraveheart.co.uk/news/2001/life_after.htm
^ ^a ^b ^c Duerden, Nick. Catherine McCormack: The play's the thing, The Independent, August 10, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Vaughan, Brendan. Catherine McCormack, Esquire, November 30, 2002. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Catherine McCormack Biography - Yahoo! Movies
^ Blackwelder, Rob. UNRECOGNIZED 'BEAUTY': The surprising off-screen Catherine McCormack, SPLICEDwire, February 6, 1998. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Wolf, Matt. Catherine McCormack, Broadway.com, August 16, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Cavendish, Dominic. Irreverent romp down the nostalgia track, Telegraph, August 18, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Theatre Royal - A Doll's House
^ Theatre Royal - The Portrait of a Lady

[edit] External links

Catherine McCormack at the Internet Movie Database
2006 Interview with Catherine McCormack on Theatre.com
Catherine McCormack - Life after Braveheart
Interview with Broadway.com
"Unrecognised Beauty" - 1998 interview with Spliced
What's On Stage article about Peter Hall's 2008 plays with Catherine McCormack

Catherine McCormack - wife of William Wallace

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:25:28 +0100

Catherine McCormack

Catherine McCormack

Born 1 January 1972 (1972-01-01) (age 37)
Alton, Hampshire, England, UK

Catherine McCormack (born 1 January 1972) is an Olivier Award-nominated English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.

Contents
[hide]

1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Film
2.2 Theatre

3 Selected credits
3.1 Theatre work
3.2 Filmography

4 References
5 External links

[edit] Early life

McCormack was born in Alton, Hampshire, England. She has Irish ancestry, as one of her grandfathers was Irish.^[1] Her mother died of lupus when McCormack was six years old, and her steelworker father subsequently raised her as well as her brother Stephen.^[2] She was brought up in the Catholic religion (though is now a "lapsed Catholic")^[3] and attended Convent of Our Lady of Providence. She then went on to study at the Oxford School of Drama.^[4]

[edit] Career

[edit] Film

McCormack's first notable role was as the character Murron MacClannough in the multiple Academy Award winning movie Braveheart. Her screen debut however was as the lead in the Anna Campion directed film Loaded, and has subsequently stated that she had a "miserable time with the director (Anna Campion)... it was my first film job, I needed to be mollycoddled, I needed to be helped through it, and I wasn't. Mostly, it was a horrible experience."^[2] After Braveheart, McCormack had lead roles in Nils Gaup's Northstar and Marshall Herskovitz's Dangerous Beauty. Other films include Spy Game and 28 Weeks Later. Despite being in demand, she does few films, stating that "I read very few scripts I'm passionate about... Maybe one in every twenty or thirty."^[5]

[edit] Theatre

McCormack has shown preference in her career towards the theatre,^[2] saying that "theatre really is an actor's medium: you're on stage with no director anymore, whereas in film very rarely do you get much rehearsal other than running through the scene very quickly. Then everyone comes in and shoots it."^[6] McCormack was one of the original 2006 London cast of Patrick Barlow's play of The 39 Steps.^[7] In 2008, she performed the role of Nora in A Doll's House,^[8] directed by Peter Hall at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and also the role of Isabel Archer in a stage adaptation of The Portrait of a Lady,^[9] both of which commenced their runs in July 2008, ending in August, before transferring to the Rose Theatre in Kingston later that year.

In 2009 she will appear in the UK tour of Headlong's adaptation of Six Characters in Search of an Author.

[edit] Selected credits

[edit] Theatre work

2000: Nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in All My Sons at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe Stage.
2003: Played Claudia in the UK premiere of Honour, a play by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Royal National Theatre, London.
2003: Played Siân in Dinner, a new play by Moira Buffini. It co-starred Harriet Walter and Nicholas Farrell.
2006: Played The Woman in The 39 Steps at the Tricycle Theatre and Criterion Theatre, London.
2007: Jo in The Lady from Dubuque at the Theatre Royal Haymarket
2008: A Doll's House/ The Portrait of a Lady at the Theatre Royal, Bath & Rose Theatre, Kingston.

[edit] Filmography

Loaded (1994)
Wycliffe (1 episode, "The Scapegoat", 1994)
Braveheart (1995)
North Star (1996)
Deacon Brodie (1997) (TV)
The Land Girls (1998)
Dangerous Beauty (1998)
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998)
This Year's Love (1999)
Love in the 21st Century (1 episode, "Reproduction", 1999)
The Debtors (1999)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
A Rumor of Angels (2000)
The Weight of Water (2000)
Born Romantic (2000)
The Tailor of Panama (2001)
Armadillo (2001, TV)
Spy Game (2001)
Broken Morning (2003, TV)
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004, TV)
Strings (2004; voice in English version)
Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005, TV)
A Sound of Thunder (2005)
Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes (2006, TV)
Renaissance (2006, voice)
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (1 episode, "Nero", 2006)
The Moon and the Stars (2007)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Midnight Man (2008)

[edit] References

^ http://www.macbraveheart.co.uk/news/2001/life_after.htm
^ ^a ^b ^c Duerden, Nick. Catherine McCormack: The play's the thing, The Independent, August 10, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Vaughan, Brendan. Catherine McCormack, Esquire, November 30, 2002. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Catherine McCormack Biography - Yahoo! Movies
^ Blackwelder, Rob. UNRECOGNIZED 'BEAUTY': The surprising off-screen Catherine McCormack, SPLICEDwire, February 6, 1998. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Wolf, Matt. Catherine McCormack, Broadway.com, August 16, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Cavendish, Dominic. Irreverent romp down the nostalgia track, Telegraph, August 18, 2006. Accessed September 29, 2009.
^ Theatre Royal - A Doll's House
^ Theatre Royal - The Portrait of a Lady

[edit] External links

Catherine McCormack at the Internet Movie Database
2006 Interview with Catherine McCormack on Theatre.com
Catherine McCormack - Life after Braveheart
Interview with Broadway.com
"Unrecognised Beauty" - 1998 interview with Spliced
What's On Stage article about Peter Hall's 2008 plays with Catherine McCormack

Braveheart

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:04:03 +0100

Braveheart

Braveheart

Directed by Mel Gibson

Produced by Mel Gibson
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Bruce Davey
Stephen McEveety

Written by Randall Wallace

Narrated by Angus Macfadyen

Starring Mel Gibson
Patrick McGoohan
Angus Macfadyen
Brendan Gleeson
Sophie Marceau
Peter Hanly
Ian Bannen
James Cosmo
Catherine McCormack
David O'Hara
Brian Cox
James Robinson II

Music by James Horner

Cinematography John Toll

Editing by Steven Rosenblum

Studio Icon Productions

Distributed by Paramount Pictures (domestic)
20th Century Fox (international)

Release date(s) May 24, 1995

Running time 175 min.

Country United States

Language English
French
Latin

Budget $53,000,000

Gross revenue $350,000,000

Braveheart is a 1995 Academy-award winning action-drama film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the title role. The film was written for screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace. Gibson portrays the legendary Scot, William Wallace, who gained recognition when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing Edward I of England, also known as Edward the Longshanks, (portrayed by Patrick McGoohan) and subsequently abetted by Edward's daughter-in-law Princess Isabelle (played by Sophie Marceau) and a claimant to the Scottish throne, Robert the Bruce (played by Angus Macfadyen).

The film won five Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director, and had been nominated for an additional five. The film was produced by Icon Productions for Paramount Pictures.

Contents
[hide]

1 Plot
2 Production
3 Cast
4 Reception
4.1 Box office

5 Academy Awards
5.1 Cultural effects
5.2 Wallace Monument

6 Criticism
6.1 Accusations of anti-gay depictions
6.2 Anglophobia
6.3 Historical inaccuracies

7 Soundtrack
7.1 Braveheart (1995)
7.2 More Music from Braveheart (1997)

8 References
9 External links

[edit] Plot

In 1280 King Edward I of England, known as "Longshanks", has occupied much of southern Scotland, and his oppressive rule there leads to the deaths of William Wallace's father and brother. Years later, after Wallace has been raised abroad by his uncle, the Scots continue to live under the iron fist of Longshanks' cruel laws. Wallace returns, intent on living as a farmer and avoiding involvement in the ongoing "troubles." Wallace rekindles a romance with his childhood friend Murron after showing her the carefully preserved thistle she gave him as a child, and the two marry in secret to avoid the primae noctis decree the King has set forth. Later, Murron is caught by an Englishman who attempts to rape her, when she fights back, the man slaps her across the face. Wallace saves her and believes she has escaped the scene. However, the village sheriff captures her and publicly cuts Murron's throat. In retribution, an enraged Wallace, with the assistance of his fellow villagers, slaughters the English garrison. He cuts the sheriff's throat on the same post and with the same dagger that killed Murron.

Knowing that the local English lord will retaliate, Wallace and his men enter his castle dressed in English uniforms and burn it down. In response to Wallace's exploits, the commoners of Scotland rise in revolt against England. As his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans volunteer to join Wallace's militia. Wallace leads his army through a series of successful battles against the English, including the Battle of Stirling Bridge and the sack of the city of York. However, two Scottish nobles, who plan on submitting to Edward, betray Wallace, who is defeated at the Battle of Falkirk.

Wallace goes into hiding, fighting a guerrilla war against English forces, and personally murders the two Scottish nobles who betrayed him at Falkirk. Meanwhile, Princess Isabelle of France, whose husband Prince Edward (Longshanks's son and heir) ignores her, meets with Wallace as the English king's emissary. Having heard of him beforehand and after meeting him in person, she becomes enamored with him and secretly assists him in his fight. Eventually, she and Wallace share a tryst, in which she becomes pregnant.

Still believing there is some good in the nobility of his country, Wallace eventually agrees to meet with the young Robert the Bruce, son of the leper noble Robert the Bruce and the chief contender for the Scottish crown, in Edinburgh. However, he is caught in a trap set by the elder Bruce and other nobles, beaten unconscious, and handed over to the English crown. Learning of his father's doings, the younger Bruce disowns him forever.

In London, Wallace is brought before the English magistrates and tried for high treason. He denies the charges, declaring that he had never accepted Edward as his King. The court responds by sentencing him to be "purified by pain." After the sentencing, a shaken Wallace prays for strength during the upcoming torture, but clandestinely rejects a painkiller brought to him by Isabelle. Afterwards, she goes to her husband and father-in-law, begging them to show mercy, but they refuse: she retaliates by tormenting the terminally ill King with the knowledge she is pregnant with Wallace's child. The torture takes place in a London square, where he is hanged, racked, and disemboweled. The magistrate offers him a quick death in exchange for a plea for mercy. Awed by Wallace's courage, the Londoners watching the execution begin to yell for mercy to be given. William signals to the magistrate that he wishes to speak. Using the last strength in his body, he cries, "Freedom!" and turns his head, seeing an image of Murron in the crowd smiling at him as he is beheaded.

Some time later, Robert the Bruce takes control of the remaining Scottish army and faces a ceremonial line of English troops at the fields of Bannockburn. Robert the Bruce will win the crown of Scotland if he gives in to the English forces and forfeits. Instead he invokes Wallace's memory and cheering his name, Robert the Bruce and the Scots charge the stunned English lines and win their freedom.

The final iconic scene is Hamish throwing Wallace's sword onto the battle field before they charge, and the last line "They fought like warrior poets, they fought like Scotsman, and won their freedom."

[edit] Production

Mel Gibson originally said that he himself was too old to play the role of William Wallace and wished instead to cast actor Jason Patric.^{[citation needed]} However, Gibson's company Icon Productions had difficulty raising enough money even if he were to star in the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused. Paramount Pictures only agreed to domestic distribution of Braveheart after Fox Studios partnered for international rights.^[1]

While the crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Scotland, the major battle scenes were shot in Ireland using members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. The opposing armies are made up of reservists, up to 1,600 in some scenes, who had been given permission to grow beards and swapped their drab uniforms for medieval garb.^[2]

According to Gibson, he was inspired by the big screen epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and William Wyler's The Big Country.

Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA.^[3]

[edit] Cast

Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough, wife of William Wallace

Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle

Patrick McGoohan as King Edward I of England

Mel Gibson as William Wallace. After his wife is killed by the English, he starts an uprising demanding justice that leads to a war for independence.
Patrick McGoohan as King Edward I of England. Nicknamed "Longshanks" for his height over 6 feet, the King of England is determined to ruthlessly put down the Scottish threat and ensure his kingdom's sovereignty.
Angus Macfadyen as Robert the Bruce. Son of the elder Bruce and claimant to the throne of Scotland, he is inspired by Wallace's dedication and bravery.
Brendan Gleeson as Hamish Campbell. Wallace's childhood friend and captain in Wallace's army, he is often short-sighted and thinks with his fists.
Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle.
Peter Hanly as Prince Edward. The son of King Edward and husband of Princess Isabelle through arranged marriage.
Ian Bannen as Robert the Bruce, Sr.. Unable to seek the throne personally due to his disfiguring leprosy, he pragmatically schemes to put his son on the throne of Scotland.
James Cosmo as Campbell the Elder. The father of Hamish Campbell and captain in Wallace's army.
Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough, the executed wife of Wallace. Her name was changed from Marion Braidfute in the script so as to not be confused with the Maid Marian of Robin Hood note.
David O'Hara as Stephen. An Irish recruit among Wallace's army, he endears himself to Wallace with his humor, which may or may not be insanity. He professes to be the most wanted man on "his" island, and claims to speak to God personally. He becomes Wallace's protector, saving his life several times.
Brian Cox as Argyle. After the death of Wallace's father and brother, Argyle takes Wallace as a child into his care, promising to teach the boy how to use a sword after he learns to use his head. Cox also had a role in another period Scottish film, Rob Roy, which was released the same year.
James Robinson II as young William Wallace. The 10-year old actor reportedly spent weeks trying to copy Gibson's mannerisms for the film.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office

On its opening weekend, Braveheart grossed US$9,938,276 in the United States^[4] and $75.6 million in its entire domestic box office run.^[5] Worldwide, Braveheart grossed over $210 million and was the 18th highest grossing film of 1995.^[5]

The film's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge is often considered one of the greatest movie battles in cinema history.^[6]^[7]

The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself. Fans come from all over the world to see the places in Scotland where William Wallace fought for Scottish freedom, and also to the places in Scotland and Ireland to see the locations used in the film. At a Braveheart Convention in 1997, held in Stirling the day after the Scottish Devolution vote and attended by 200 delegates from around the world, Braveheart author Randall Wallace, Seoras Wallace of the Wallace Clan, Scottish historian David Ross and Bláithín FitzGerald from Ireland gave lectures on various aspects of the film. Several of the actors also attended including James Robinson (Young William), Andrew Weir (Young Hamish), Julie Austin (the young bride) and Mhairi Calvey (Young Murron).

[edit] Academy Awards

The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 5. The awards it won are marked with an asterisk. (*)

Cinematography - John Toll (*)
Costume Design - Charles Knode
Directing - Mel Gibson (*)
Film Editing - Steven Rosenblum
Makeup - Peter Frampton, Paul Pattison, Lois Burwell (*)
Music (Original Dramatic Score) - James Horner
Best Picture - Mel Gibson, Alan Ladd, Jr. and Bruce Davey, Producers (*)
Sound - Andy Nelson, Scott Millan, Anna Behlmer, Brian Simmons
Sound Effects Editing - Lon Bender, Per Hallberg (*)
Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen) - Randall Wallace

[edit] Cultural effects

The film is credited by Lin Anderson, author of Braveheart: From Hollywood To Holyrood as having played a significant role in affecting the Scottish political landscape in the mid to late 1990s.^[8]

[edit] Wallace Monument

In 1997 a statue of Gibson as "William Wallace" was placed outside the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which includes the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield, the work of sculptor Tom Church, was the cause of much controversy and one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap".^[9] In 1998 the statue was vandalised by someone who smashed the face in with a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage at night to prevent further vandalism. This only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it then appeared that the Gibson/Wallace figure is imprisoned. The statue was removed from the site in 2008 to make way for a new restaurant and reception to the visitors' centre.

[edit] Criticism

This article's Criticism or Controversy section(s) may mean the article does not present a neutral point of view of the subject. It may be better to integrate the material in those sections into the article as a whole.

[edit] Accusations of anti-gay depictions

The depiction of Prince Edward as an effeminate homosexual in the film drew accusations of 'homophobia' against Gibson. Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying,

“'I'm just trying to respond to history. You can cite other examples – Alexander the Great, for example, who conquered the entire world, was also a homosexual. But this story isn't about Alexander the Great. It's about Edward II.”^[10]

Gibson asserted that the reason the king killed his son’s lover was because the king was a “psychopath,”^[11] and he expressed bewilderment that some audience members would laugh at this murder:

"We cut a scene out, unfortunately . . . where you really got to know that character (Edward II) and to understand his plight and his pain. . . . But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, 'When's this story going to start?'"^[12]

It is strongly debated whether Edward II, who fathered at least five children, was gay or bisexual. Some have criticized Braveheart for its portrayal of the Prince of Wales as weak and effeminate and for the scene in which Edward I throws his son’s male lover out of the window.^[13]

[edit] Anglophobia

Braveheart has been accused of Anglophobia. The film was referred in The Economist as "xenophobic"^[14] and John Sutherland writing in the Guardian stated that, "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia".^[15] Colin MacArthur, author of Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema calls it "a f***in’ atrocious film"^[16] and writes that a worrying aspect of the film is its appeal to "(neo-) fascist groups and the attendant psyche.^[17] According to The Times, MacArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film."^[16] The Independent has noted, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".^[18]

[edit] Historical inaccuracies

Mel Gibson as William Wallace anachronistically wearing woad

Historian Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film which "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure".^[19]

Historian Sharon Krossa notes that the film contains numerous historical errors, beginning with the wearing of belted plaid by Wallace and his men. She points out that in the period in question, "... no Scots ... wore belted plaids (let alone kilts of any kind)."^[20] Moreover, when highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film."^[20] She compares the inaccuracy to "... a film about Colonial America showing the colonial men wearing 20th century business suits, but with the jackets worn back-to-front instead of the right way around."^[20] She remarks "The events aren't accurate, the dates aren't accurate, the characters aren't accurate, the names aren't accurate, the clothes aren't accurate -- in short, just about nothing is accurate" ^[21]

Historian Alex von Tunzelmann writing in The Guardian noted several historical inaccuracies: William Wallace never met Isabelle, as she married the Prince of Wales three years after Wallace's death; in the film the Battle of Stirling Bridge didn't include Stirling Bridge itself (or any bridge); and the primae noctis decree was never used by King Edward.^[22] (in fact, there is little historical evidence that primae noctis existed in the first place). In 2009 the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times.^[23]

Screenwriter Randall Wallace is very vocal about defending his script from historians who have dismissed the film as a Hollywood perversion of actual events. Admitting that Braveheart is based more on Blind Harry's poem than any historical source, he has said: "Is Blind Harry true? I don't know. I know that it spoke to my heart and that's what matters to me, that it spoke to my heart."^[24]

In the 2007 humorous non-fictional historiography An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, author John O'Farrell notes that Braveheart could not have been more historically inaccurate, even if a "Plasticine dog" had been inserted in the film and the title changed to William Wallace and Gromit, referencing the popular series of British short films titled Wallace and Gromit.

In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, director Mel Gibson acknowledges many of the historical inaccuracies but defends his choices as director, noting that the way events were portrayed in the film were much more "cinematically compelling" than the historical and/or mythical fact.

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Braveheart was composed and conducted by James Horner, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack, comprised of 77 minutes of background music taken from significant scenes in the film, was noticeably successful, and Horner produced a follow-up soundtrack in 1997 titled More Music from Braveheart. International and French versions of the soundtrack have also been released.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Braveheart (1995)

Main Title (2:51)
A Gift of a Thistle (1:37)
Wallace Courts Murron (4:25)
The Secret Wedding (6:33)
Attack on Murron (3:00)
Revenge (6:23)
Murron’s Burial (2:13)
Making Plans/ Gathering the Clans (1:52)
“Sons of Scotland” (6:19)
The Battle of Stirling (5:57)
For the Love of a Princess (4:07)
Falkirk (4:04)
Betrayal & Desolation (7:48)
Mornay’s Dream (1:15)
The Legend Spreads (1:09)
The Princess Pleads for Wallace’s Life (3:38)
“Freedom”/The Execution/ Bannockburn (7:24)
End Credits (7:16)

[edit] More Music from Braveheart (1997)

The follow-up soundtrack features dialogue taken from the actual film, while the original soundtrack was purely an instrumental recording.

Prologue/ "I Shall Tell You of William…" (dialogue-Robert the Bruce) (3:35)
Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Bag Pipes (2:03)
The Royal Wedding (dialogue-Robert the Bruce) (2:12)
"The Trouble with Scotland" (dialogue-King Edward the Longshanks) (0:40)
Scottish Wedding Music (1:14)
Prima Noctum (1:46)
The Proposal (dialogue-Wallace and Murron) (1:35)
"Scotland Is Free!" (dialogue-Wallace) (0:17)
Point of War/JonnyCope/Up in the Morning Early (traditional) (2:59)
Conversing with the Almighty (dialogue-various) (1:20)
The Road to the Isles/ Grendaural Highlanders/ The Old Rustic Bridge by the Hill (traditional) (3:52)
"Son of Scotland!" (dialogue-Wallace) (12:09)
Vision of Murron (1:45)
"Unite the Clans!" (dialogue-Wallace) (0:23)
The Legend Spreads (dialogue-Storytellers) (1:07)
"Why Do You Help Me?" (dialogue-Wallace and Princess Isabelle) (0:37)
For the Love of a Princess (previously released score) (4:05)
"Not Every man Really Lives" (dialogue-Wallace and Isabelle)
"The Prisoner wishes to Say a Word (dialogue-The Executioner and Wallace) (3:43)
"After the Beheading" (dialogue-Robert the Bruce) (1:48)
"You Have Bled for Wallace!" (dialogue-Robert the Bruce) (1:22)
Warrior Poets (dialogue-Wallace) (0:29)
Scotland the Brave (traditional) (2:47)
Leaving Glenurquhart (traditional) (3:32)
Kirkhill (traditional) (4:08)

[edit] References

^ Michael Fleming (2005-07-25). "Mel tongue-ties studios". Daily Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117926430.html?categoryid=13&cs=1.
^ Braveheart 10th Chance To Boost Tourism In Trim, Meath Chronicle, August 28, 2003 . Retrieved 30 April 2007.
^ [1]
^ "Editing Braveheart (section) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Braveheart&action=edit&section=5. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ ^a ^b "Braveheart (1995)". Boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=braveheart.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ "The best -- and worst -- movie battle scenes". CNN. 2007-03-30. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/29/movie.battles/index.html. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
^ Noah Sanders (2007-03-28). "Great Modern Battle Scenes - Updated!". Double Viking. http://www.doubleviking.com/great-modern-battle-scenes-4361-p.html. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
^ Boztas, Senay (2005-07-31). "Wallace movie ‘helped Scots get devolution’ - [Sunday Herald]". Braveheart.info. http://www.braveheart.info/news/2005/sunday_herald/2007-07-31/51063.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ By Hal G.P. Colebatch on 8.8.06 @ 12:07AM. "The American Spectator". Spectator.org. http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10191. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ The San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 1995, “Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs” by Ruth Stein
^ Matt Zoller Seitz. "Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery". Dallas Observer. http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/1995-05-25/film/film_3.html. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
^ USA Today, May 24, 1995, “Gibson has faith in family and freedom” by Marco R. della Cava
^ Masculinity and marginality in 'Rob Roy' and 'Braveheart' Winter 1997
^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 2006-05-18. http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6941798. Retrieved 2009-02-27.

Ian Bannen

Born	June 29, 1928(1928-06-29) Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK
Died	November 3, 1999 (aged 71) Knockies Straight, near Loch Ness, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1951–1999
Spouse(s)	Marilyn Salisbury (1976–1999)

Angus Macfadyen
Born	21 September 1963 (1963-09-21) (age 46) Glasgow, Scotland
Official website

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	The Lost Language of Cranes	Philip Benjamin	TV film
1991	Soldier Soldier	Lt. Alex Pereira	unknown episodes
1993	15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight	David McBride	TV film
1994	Two Golden Balls	Dexter	TV film
1994	Takin' Over the Asylum	Fergus	Episodes: "Hey Jude" "Fly Like an Eagle" "You Always Hurt The One You Love" "Fool on the Hill"
1995	Braveheart	Robert the Bruce
1995	Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story	Richard Burton	TV film
1997	Nevada	West
	Warriors of Virtue	Komodo
	Snide and Prejudice	Michael Davidson/Adolf Hitler
	Still Breathing	Philip
1998	Joseph's Gift	Carl
	The Brylcreem Boys	Count Rudolph von Stegenbek
	The Rat Pack	Peter Lawford	TV film
	Lanai-Loa	Turner
1999	Cradle Will Rock	Orson Welles
	Facade	Frederic Colbert	aka Death Valley
	Titus	Lucius
2000	Jason and the Argonauts	Zeus	TV film
2000	Second Skin	Sam Kane
2001	A Woman's a Helluva Thing	Houston Blackett	TV film
2001	Styx	Mike
2002	On the Roof	Jack
	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Connor McGill
	Equilibrium	Dupont	Lead role
2003	Miracles	Alva Keel	13 episodes
2004	Spartacus	Marcus Crassus	TV film
2004	5ive Days to Midnight	Roy Bremmer	TV film
2005	The Pleasure Drivers	Bill
	Tilt	Roy 'Mac' McEntyre	Episode: "The Whale"
	Murder on the Yellow Brick Road	Michael Alberts
	Shooting Gallery	Tenderloin Tony	Direct-to-video
2005, 2006	Alias	Joseph Ehrmann	Episodes: "Fait Accompli" "There's Only One Sydney Bristow" "30 Seconds"
2006	The Virgin of Juarez	Patrick Nunzio	Voice
	Fatwa	Bobby
	Blackbeard	Blackbeard	TV film
	Scoundrels, Scallywags, and Scurvy Knaves		Direct-to-video
	Saw III	Jeff Reinhart
	.45	Al
2007	The Rich Inner Life of Penelope Cloud	Claude	TV film
	Killer Wave	John McAdams	TV mini-series
	Redline	Michael
	Saw IV	Jeff Reinhart
2008	Impulse	Jonathan Dennison/Simon Phillips	Direct-to-video
	Clean Break	Matt McKay
	San Saba	Bud
	Eleventh Hour	Jason Cooper	Episode: "Agro"
	Californication	Julian	Episodes: "Slip of the Tongue" "No Way to Treat a Lady" "The Raw & the Cooked" "Coke Dick & First Kick" "La Ronde" "La Petite Mort"
2009	Shadowheart	Will Tunney	Direct-to-video
2009	Pound of Flesh	Patrick Kelly
2010	Shadows of the White Nights	Richard	post-production

Patrick McGoohan
Born	March 19, 1928(1928-03-19) Astoria, Queens, New York, United States
Died	January 13, 2009 (aged 80) Santa Monica, California, United States
Years active	1955–2002
Spouse(s)	Joan Drummond (1951–2009)

Mel Gibson
at the 1990 Air America premiere
Born	Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson January 3, 1956 (1956-01-03) (age 53) Peekskill, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1976–present
Spouse(s)	Robyn Moore (m. 1980–present)

Sophie Marceau
Born	Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu 17 November 1966 (1966-11-17) (age 43) Paris, France
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Andrzej Żuławski (?–2001)
Domestic partner(s)	Jim Lemley Christopher Lambert (2007–present)

Braveheart

Directed by	Mel Gibson
Produced by	Mel Gibson Alan Ladd, Jr. Bruce Davey Stephen McEveety
Written by	Randall Wallace
Narrated by	Angus Macfadyen
Starring	Mel Gibson Patrick McGoohan Angus Macfadyen Brendan Gleeson Sophie Marceau Peter Hanly Ian Bannen James Cosmo Catherine McCormack David O'Hara Brian Cox James Robinson II
Music by	James Horner
Cinematography	John Toll
Editing by	Steven Rosenblum
Studio	Icon Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (domestic) 20th Century Fox (international)
Release date(s)	May 24, 1995
Running time	175 min.
Country	United States
Language	English French Latin
Budget	$53,000,000
Gross revenue	$350,000,000