Venture capital (VC) is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as biotechnology, IT, software, etc. The typical venture capital investment occurs after the seed funding round as growth funding round (also referred as Series A round) in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event, such as an IPO or trade sale of the company. Venture capital is a subset of private equity. Therefore all venture capital is private equity, but not all private equity is venture capital.

In addition to angel investing and other seed funding options, venture capital is attractive for new companies with limited operating history that are too small to raise capital in the public markets and have not reached the point where they are able to secure a bank loan or complete a debt offering. In exchange for the high risk that venture capitalists assume by investing in smaller and less mature companies, venture capitalists usually get significant control over company decisions, in addition to a significant portion of the company's ownership (and consequently value).

Venture capital is also associated with job creation (accounting for 21% of US GDP), the knowledge economy, and used as a proxy measure of innovation within an economic sector or geography. Every year there are nearly 2 million businesses created in the USA, and only 600-800 get venture capital funding. According to the National Venture Capital Association 11% of private sector jobs come from venture backed companies and venture backed revenue accounts for 21% of US GDP.

History

A venture may be defined as a project prospective of converted into a process with an adequate assumed risk and investment With few exceptions, private equity in the first half of the 20th century was the domain of wealthy individuals and families. The Vanderbilts, Whitneys, Rockefellers, and Warburgs were notable investors in private companies in the first half of the century. In 1938, Laurance S. Rockefeller helped finance the creation of both Eastern Air Lines and Douglas Aircraft and the Rockefeller family had vast holdings in a variety of companies. Eric M. Warburg founded E.M. Warburg & Co. in 1938, which would ultimately become Warburg Pincus, with investments in both leveraged buyouts and venture capital.

Origins of modern private equity

Before World War II, money orders (originally known as "development capital") were primarily the domain of wealthy individuals and families. It was not until after World War II that what is considered today to be true private equity investments began to emerge marked by the founding of the first two venture capital firms in 1946: American Research and Development Corporation. (ARDC) and J.H. Whitney & Company.

ARDC was founded by Georges Doriot, the "father of venture capitalism" (former dean of Harvard Business School and founder of INSEAD), with Ralph Flanders and Karl Compton (former president of MIT), to encourage private sector investments in businesses run by soldiers who were returning from World War II. ARDC's significance was primarily that it was the first institutional private equity investment firm that raised capital from sources other than wealthy families although it had several notable investment successes as well. ARDC is credited with the first trick when its 1957 investment of $70,000 in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) would be valued at over $355 million after the company's initial public offering in 1968 (representing a return of over 1200 times on its investment and an annualized rate of return of 101%).

Former employees of ARDC went on and established several prominent venture capital firms including Greylock Partners (founded in 1965 by Charlie Waite and Bill Elfers) and Morgan, Holland Ventures, the predecessor of Flagship Ventures (founded in 1982 by James Morgan). ARDC continued investing until 1971 with the retirement of Doriot. In 1972, Doriot merged ARDC with Textron after having invested in over 150 companies.

J.H. Whitney & Company was founded by John Hay Whitney and his partner Benno Schmidt. Whitney had been investing since the 1930s, founding Pioneer Pictures in 1933 and acquiring a 15% interest in Technicolor Corporation with his cousin Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney. By far Whitney's most famous investment was in Florida Foods Corporation. The company developed an innovative method for delivering nutrition to American soldiers, which later came to be known as Minute Maid orange juice and was sold to The Coca-Cola Company in 1960. J.H. Whitney & Company continues to make investments in leveraged buyout transactions and raised $750 million for its sixth institutional private equity fund in 2005.

Early venture capital and the growth of Silicon Valley

One of the first steps toward a professionally-managed venture capital industry was the passage of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. The 1958 Act officially allowed the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to license private "Small Business Investment Companies" (SBICs) to help the financing and management of the small entrepreneurial businesses in the United States.

During the 1960s and 1970s, venture capital firms focused their investment activity primarily on starting and expanding companies. More often than not, these companies were exploiting breakthroughs in electronic, medical, or data-processing technology. As a result, venture capital came to be almost synonymous with technology finance. An early West Coast venture capital company was Draper and Johnson Investment Company, formed in 1962 by William Henry Draper III and Franklin P. Johnson, Jr. In 1962 Bill Draper and Paul Wythes founded Sutter Hill Ventures, and Pitch Johnson formed Asset Management Company.

It is commonly noted that the first venture-backed startup is Fairchild Semiconductor (which produced the first commercially practical integrated circuit), funded in 1959 by what would later become Venrock Associates. Venrock was founded in 1969 by Laurance S. Rockefeller, the fourth of John D. Rockefeller's six children as a way to allow other Rockefeller children to develop exposure to venture capital investments.

It was also in the 1960s that the common form of private equity fund, still in use today, emerged. Private equity firms organized limited partnerships to hold investments in which the investment professionals served as general partner and the investors, who were passive limited partners, put up the capital. The compensation structure, still in use today, also emerged with limited partners paying an annual management fee of 1-2.5% and a carried interest typically representing up to 20% of the profits of the partnership.

The growth of the venture capital industry was fueled by the emergence of the independent investment firms on Sand Hill Road, beginning with Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital in 1972. Located, in Menlo Park, CA, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia and later venture capital firms would have access to the many semiconductor companies based in the Santa Clara Valley as well as early computer firms using their devices and programming and service companies.

Throughout the 1970s, a group of private equity firms, focused primarily on venture capital investments, would be founded that would become the model for later leveraged buyout and venture capital investment firms. In 1973, with the number of new venture capital firms increasing, leading venture capitalists formed the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). The NVCA was to serve as the industry trade group for the venture capital industry. Venture capital firms suffered a temporary downturn in 1974, when the stock market crashed and investors were naturally wary of this new kind of investment fund.

It was not until 1978 that venture capital experienced its first major fundraising year, as the industry raised approximately $750 million. With the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in 1974, corporate pension funds were prohibited from holding certain risky investments including many investments in privately held companies. In 1978, the US Labor Department relaxed certain of the ERISA restrictions, under the "prudent man rule," thus allowing corporate pension funds to invest in the asset class and providing a major source of capital available to venture capitalists.

1980s

The public successes of the venture capital industry in the 1970s and early 1980s (e.g., Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple Inc., Genentech) gave rise to a major proliferation of venture capital investment firms. From just a few dozen firms at the start of the decade, there were over 650 firms by the end of the 1980s, each searching for the next major "home run". While the number of firms multiplied, the capital managed by these firms increased by only 11% from $28 billion to $31 billion over the course of the decade.

The growth of the industry was hampered by sharply declining returns and certain venture firms began posting losses for the first time. In addition to the increased competition among firms, several other factors impacted returns. The market for initial public offerings cooled in the mid-1980s before collapsing after the stock market crash in 1987 and foreign corporations, particularly from Japan and Korea, flooded early stage companies with capital.

In response to the changing conditions, corporations that had sponsored in-house venture investment arms, including General Electric and Paine Webber either sold off or closed these venture capital units. Additionally, venture capital units within Chemical Bank and Continental Illinois National Bank, among others, began shifting their focus from funding early stage companies toward investments in more mature companies. Even industry founders J.H. Whitney & Company and Warburg Pincus began to transition toward leveraged buyouts and growth capital investments.

The venture capital boom and the Internet Bubble (1995 to 2000)

By the end of the 1980s, venture capital returns were relatively low, particularly in comparison with their emerging leveraged buyout cousins, due in part to the competition for hot startups, excess supply of IPOs and the inexperience of many venture capital fund managers. Growth in the venture capital industry remained limited throughout the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s increasing from $3 billion in 1983 to just over $4 billion more than a decade later in 1994.

After a shakeout of venture capital managers, the more successful firms retrenched, focusing increasingly on improving operations at their portfolio companies rather than continuously making new investments. Results would begin to turn very attractive, successful and would ultimately generate the venture capital boom of the 1990s. Yale School of Management Professor Andrew Metrick refers to these first 15 years of the modern venture capital industry beginning in 1980 as the "pre-boom period" in anticipation of the boom that would begin in 1995 and last through the bursting of the Internet bubble in 2000.

The late 1990s were a boom time for venture capital, as firms on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park and Silicon Valley benefited from a huge surge of interest in the nascent Internet and other computer technologies. Initial public offerings of stock for technology and other growth companies were in abundance and venture firms were reaping large returns.

The private equity crash (2000 to 2003)

The Nasdaq crash and technology slump that started in March 2000 shook virtually the entire venture capital industry as valuations for startup technology companies collapsed. Over the next two years, many venture firms had been forced to write-off large proportions of their investments and many funds were significantly "under water" (the values of the fund's investments were below the amount of capital invested). Venture capital investors sought to reduce size of commitments they had made to venture capital funds and in numerous instances, investors sought to unload existing commitments for cents on the dollar in the secondary market. By mid-2003, the venture capital industry had shriveled to about half its 2001 capacity. Nevertheless, PricewaterhouseCoopers' MoneyTree Survey shows that total venture capital investments held steady at 2003 levels through the second quarter of 2005.

Although the post-boom years represent just a small fraction of the peak levels of venture investment reached in 2000, they still represent an increase over the levels of investment from 1980 through 1995. As a percentage of GDP, venture investment was 0.058% in 1994, peaked at 1.087% (nearly 19 times the 1994 level) in 2000 and ranged from 0.164% to 0.182 % in 2003 and 2004. The revival of an Internet-driven environment in 2004 through 2007 helped to revive the venture capital environment. However, as a percentage of the overall private equity market, venture capital has still not reached its mid-1990s level, let alone its peak in 2000.

Venture capital funds, which were responsible for much of the fundraising volume in 2000 (the height of the dot-com bubble), raised only $25.1 billion in 2006, a 2% decline from 2005 and a significant decline from its peak.

Funding

Venture capitalists are typically very selective in deciding what to invest in; as a rule of thumb, a fund may invest in one in four hundred opportunities presented to it , looking for the extremely rare, yet sought after, qualities, such as innovative technology, potential for rapid growth, a well-developed business model, and an impressive management team. Of these qualities, funds are most interested in ventures with exceptionally high growth potential, as only such opportunities are likely capable of providing the financial returns and successful exit event within the required timeframe (typically 3–7 years) that venture capitalists expect.

Because investments are illiquid and require the extended timeframe to harvest, venture capitalists are expected to carry out detailed due diligence prior to investment. Venture capitalists also are expected to nurture the companies in which they invest, in order to increase the likelihood of reaching an IPO stage when valuations are favourable. Venture capitalists typically assist at four stages in the company's development:

Idea generation;

Start-up;

Ramp up; and

Exit

Because there are no public exchanges listing their securities, private companies meet venture capital firms and other private equity investors in several ways, including warm referrals from the investors' trusted sources and other business contacts; investor conferences and symposia; and summits where companies pitch directly to investor groups in face-to-face meetings, including a variant known as "Speed Venturing", which is akin to speed-dating for capital, where the investor decides within 10 minutes whether s/he wants a follow-up meeting. In addition there are some new private online networks that are emerging to provide additional opportunities to meet investors.

This need for high returns makes venture funding an expensive capital source for companies, and most suitable for businesses having large up-front capital requirements which cannot be financed by cheaper alternatives such as debt. That is most commonly the case for intangible assets such as software, and other intellectual property, whose value is unproven. In turn this explains why venture capital is most prevalent in the fast-growing technology and life sciences or biotechnology fields.

If a company does have the qualities venture capitalists seek including a solid business plan, a good management team, investment and passion from the founders, a good potential to exit the investment before the end of their funding cycle, and target minimum returns in excess of 40% per year, it will find it easier to raise venture capital.

Financing stages

There are typically six stages of venture round financing offered in Venture Capital, that roughly correspond to these stages of a company's development.

Seed Money: Low level financing needed to prove a new idea, often provided by angel investors. Crowd funding is also emerging as an option for see funding.

Start-up: Early stage firms that need funding for expenses associated with marketing and product development

First-Round (Series A round): Early sales and manufacturing funds

Second-Round: Working capital for early stage companies that are selling product, but not yet turning a profit

Third-Round: Also called Mezzanine financing, this is expansion money for a newly profitable company

Fourth-Round: Also called bridge financing, 4th round is intended to finance the "going public" process

Between the first round and the fourth round, venture-backed companies may also seek to take venture debt.

Venture capital firms and funds

Venture capitalists

A venture capitalist (also known as a VC) is a person or investment firm that makes venture investments, and these venture capitalists are expected to bring managerial and technical expertise as well as capital to their investments. A venture capital fund refers to a pooled investment vehicle (often an LP or LLC) that primarily invests the financial capital of third-party investors in enterprises that are too risky for the standard capital markets or bank loans. Venture capital firms typically comprise small teams with technology backgrounds (scientists, researchers) or those with business training or deep industry experience.

A core skill within VC is the ability to identify novel technologies that have the potential to generate high commercial returns at an early stage. By definition, VCs also take a role in managing entrepreneurial companies at an early stage, thus adding skills as well as capital (thereby differentiating VC from buy-out private equity, which typically invest in companies with proven revenue), and thereby potentially realizing much higher rates of returns. Inherent in realizing abnormally high rates of returns is the risk of losing all of one's investment in a given startup company. As a consequence, most venture capital investments are done in a pool format, where several investors combine their investments into one large fund that invests in many different startup companies. By investing in the pool format, the investors are spreading out their risk to many different investments versus taking the chance of putting all of their money in one start up firm.

Structure

Venture capital firms are typically structured as partnerships, the general partners of which serve as the managers of the firm and will serve as investment advisors to the venture capital funds raised. Venture capital firms in the United States may also be structured as limited liability companies, in which case the firm's managers are known as managing members. Investors in venture capital funds are known as limited partners. This constituency comprises both high net worth individuals and institutions with large amounts of available capital, such as state and private pension funds, university financial endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and pooled investment vehicles, called fund of fund.

Types

Venture Capitalist firms differ in their approaches. There are multiple factors and each firm is different.

Some of the factors that influence VC decisions include:

Business situation: Some VCs tend to invest in new ideas, or fledgling companies. Others prefer investing in established companies that need support to go public or grow.

Others invest solely in certain industries. Others prefer operating locally while others will operate nationwide.

Company expectations often vary. Some may want a quicker public sale of the company, or expect fast growth. The amount of help a VC provides can vary from one firm to the next.

Roles

Within the venture capital industry, the general partners and other investment professionals of the venture capital firm are often referred to as "venture capitalists" or "VCs". Typical career backgrounds vary, but broadly speaking venture capitalists come from either an operational or a finance background. Venture capitalists with an operational background tend to be former founders or executives of companies similar to those which the partnership finances or will have served as management consultants. Venture capitalists with finance backgrounds tend to have investment banking or other corporate finance experience.

Although the titles are not entirely uniform from firm to firm, other positions at venture capital firms include:

Venture partners – Venture partners are expected to source potential investment opportunities ("bring in deals") and typically are compensated only for those deals with which they are involved.

Principal – This is a mid-level investment professional position, and often considered a "partner-track" position. Principals will have been promoted from a senior associate position or who have commensurate experience in another field such as investment banking or management consulting.

Associate – This is typically the most junior apprentice position within a venture capital firm. After a few successful years, an associate may move up to the "senior associate" position and potentially principal and beyond. Associates will often have worked for 1–2 years in another field such as investment banking or management consulting.

Entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR) – EIRs are experts in a particular domain and perform due diligence on potential deals. EIRs are engaged by venture capital firms temporarily (six to 18 months) and are expected to develop and pitch startup ideas to their host firm (although neither party is bound to work with each other). Some EIR's move on to executive positions within a portfolio company.

Structure of the funds

Most venture capital funds have a fixed life of 10 years, with the possibility of a few years of extensions to allow for private companies still seeking liquidity. The investing cycle for most funds is generally three to five years, after which the focus is managing and making follow-on investments in an existing portfolio. This model was pioneered by successful funds in Silicon Valley through the 1980s to invest in technological trends broadly but only during their period of ascendance, and to cut exposure to management and marketing risks of any individual firm or its product.

In such a fund, the investors have a fixed commitment to the fund that is initially unfunded and subsequently "called down" by the venture capital fund over time as the fund makes its investments. There are substantial penalties for a Limited Partner (or investor) that fails to participate in a capital call.

It can take anywhere from a month or so to several years for venture capitalists to raise money from limited partners for their fund. At the time when all of the money has been raised, the fund is said to be closed and the 10 year lifetime begins. Some funds have partial closes when one half (or some other amount) of the fund has been raised. "Vintage year" generally refers to the year in which the fund was closed and may serve as a means to stratify VC funds for comparison. This free database of venture capital funds shows the difference between a venture capital fund management company and the venture capital funds managed by them.

Compensation

Venture capitalists are compensated through a combination of management fees and carried interest (often referred to as a "two and 20" arrangement):

Management fees – an annual payment made by the investors in the fund to the fund's manager to pay for the private equity firm's investment operations. In a typical venture capital fund, the general partners receive an annual management fee equal to up to 2% of the committed capital.

Carried interest – a share of the profits of the fund (typically 20%), paid to the private equity fund’s management company as a performance incentive. The remaining 80% of the profits are paid to the fund's investors Strong Limited Partner interest in top-tier venture firms has led to a general trend toward terms more favorable to the venture partnership, and certain groups are able to command carried interest of 25-30% on their funds.

Because a fund may run out of capital prior to the end of its life, larger venture capital firms usually have several overlapping funds at the same time; this lets the larger firm keep specialists in all stages of the development of firms almost constantly engaged. Smaller firms tend to thrive or fail with their initial industry contacts; by the time the fund cashes out, an entirely-new generation of technologies and people is ascending, whom the general partners may not know well, and so it is prudent to reassess and shift industries or personnel rather than attempt to simply invest more in the industry or people the partners already know.

Main alternatives to venture capital

Because of the strict requirements venture capitalists have for potential investments, many entrepreneurs seek seed funding from angel investors, who may be more willing to invest in highly speculative opportunities, or may have a prior relationship with the entrepreneur.

Furthermore, many venture capital firms will only seriously evaluate an investment in a start-up company otherwise unknown to them if the company can prove at least some of its claims about the technology and/or market potential for its product or services. To achieve this, or even just to avoid the dilutive effects of receiving funding before such claims are proven, many start-ups seek to self-finance sweat equity until they reach a point where they can credibly approach outside capital providers such as venture capitalists or angel investors. This practice is called "bootstrapping".

There has been some debate since the dot com boom that a "funding gap" has developed between the friends and family investments typically in the $0 to $250,000 range and the amounts that most Venture Capital Funds prefer to invest between $1 to $2M. This funding gap may be accentuated by the fact that some successful Venture Capital funds have been drawn to raise ever-larger funds, requiring them to search for correspondingly larger investment opportunities. This 'gap' is often filled by sweat equity and seed funding via angel investors as well as equity investment companies who specialize in investments in startup companies from the range of $250,000 to $1M. The National Venture Capital Association estimates that the latter now invest more than $30 billion a year in the USA in contrast to the $20 billion a year invested by organized Venture Capital funds.

Crowd funding is emerging as an alternative to traditional venture capital. Crowd funding is an approach to raising the capital required for a new project or enterprise by appealing to large numbers of ordinary people for small donations. While such an approach has long precedents in the sphere of charity, it is receiving renewed attention from entrepreneurs such as independent film makers, now that social media and online communities make it possible to reach out to a group of potentially interested supporters at very low cost. Some crowd funding models are also being applied for startup funding, for example, Grow VC. One reason develop is the problems of the traditional VC model. The traditional VC are shifting their focus to later face investments and ROI of many VC funds have been low or negative.

In industries where assets can be securitized effectively because they reliably generate future revenue streams or have a good potential for resale in case of foreclosure, businesses may more cheaply be able to raise debt to finance their growth. Good examples would include asset-intensive extractive industries such as mining, or manufacturing industries. Offshore funding is provided via specialist venture capital trusts which seek to utilise securitization in structuring hybrid multi market transactions via an SPV (special purpose vehicle): a corporate entity that is designed solely for the purpose of the financing.

In addition to traditional venture capital and angel networks, groups have emerged which allow groups of small investors or entrepreneurs themselves to compete in a privatized business plan competition where the group itself serves as the investor through a democratic process.

Law firms are also increasingly acting as an intermediary between clients that seek venture capital and the firms that provide it.

Geographical differences

Venture capital, as an industry, originated in the United States and American firms have traditionally been the largest participants in venture deals and the bulk of venture capital has been deployed in American companies. However, increasingly, non-US venture investment is growing and the number and size of non-US venture capitalists have been expanding.

Venture capital has been used as a tool for economic development in a variety of developing regions. In many of these regions, with less developed financial sectors, venture capital plays a role in facilitating access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which in most cases would not qualify for receiving bank loans.

In the year of 2008, while the Venture Capital fundings are still majorly dominated by U.S. (USD 28.8 B invested in over 2550 deals in 2008), compared to International fund investments (USD 13.4 B invested in everywhere else), there have been an average 5% growth in the Venture capital deals outside of the U.S- mainly in China, Europe and Israel. Geographical differences can be significant. For instance, in the U.K., 4% of British investment goes to venture capital, compared to about 33% in the U.S.

United States

Venture capitalists invested some $6.6 billion in 797 deals in U.S. during the third quarter of 2006, according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data by Thomson Financial. A National Venture Capital Association survey found that a majority (69%) of venture capitalists predicted that venture investments in the U.S. would have leveled between $20–29 billion in 2007.

Canada

Canadian technology companies have attracted interest from the global venture capital community as a result, in part, of generous tax incentive through the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) investment tax credit program. The basic incentive available to any Canadian corporation performing R&D is a refundable tax credit that is equal to 20% of "qualifying" R&D expenditures (labour, material, R&D contracts, and R&D equipment). An enhanced 35% refundable tax credit of available to certain (i.e. small) Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPCs). Because the CCPC rules require a minimum of 50% Canadian ownership in the company performing R&D, foreign investors who would like to benefit from the larger 35% tax credit must accept minority position in the company - which might not be desirable. The SR&ED program does not restrict the export of any technology or intellectual property that may have been developed with the benefit of SR&ED tax incentives.

Canada also has a fairly unique form of venture capital generation in its Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporations (LSVCC). These funds, also known as Retail Venture Capital or Labour Sponsored Investment Funds (LSIF), are generally sponsored by labor unions and offer tax breaks from government to encourage retail investors to purchase the funds. Generally, these Retail Venture Capital funds only invest in companies where the majority of employees are in Canada. However, innovative structures have been developed to permit LSVCCs to direct in Canadian subsidiaries of corporations incorporated in jurisdictions outside of Canada.

Europe

Europe has a large and growing number of active venture firms. Capital raised in the region in 2005, including buy-out funds, exceeded €60bn, of which €12.6bn was specifically for venture investment. The European Venture Capital Association includes a list of active firms and other statistics. In 2006 the top three countries receiving the most venture capital investments were the United Kingdom (515 minority stakes sold for €1.78bn), France (195 deals worth €875m), and Germany (207 deals worth €428m) according to data gathered by Library House.

European venture capital investment in the second quarter of 2007 rose 5% to 1.14 billion Euros from the first quarter. However, due to bigger sized deals in early stage investments, the number of deals was down 20% to 213. The second quarter venture capital investment results were significant in terms of early-round investment, where as much as 600 million Euros (about 42.8% of the total capital) were invested in 126 early round deals (which comprised more than half of the total number of deals). Private equity in Italy was 4.2 billion Euros in 2007.

Israel

Israel’s venture capital industry has rapidly developed from the early 1990s, and has about 70 active venture capital funds, of which 14 are international VCs with Israeli offices. Israel's thriving venture capital and Business incubator industry played an important role in the booming high-tech sector. In 2008, venture capital investment in Israel rose 19 percent to $1.9 billion.

Asia

India is fast catching up with the West in the field of venture capital and a number of venture capital funds have a presence in the country (IVCA). In 2006, the total amount of private equity and venture capital in India reached US$7.5 billion across 299 deals.

China is also starting to develop a venture capital industry (CVCA).

Vietnam is experiencing its first foreign venture capitals, including IDG Venture Vietnam ($100 million) and DFJ Vinacapital ($35 million)

Middle East and North Africa

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) venture capital industry is an early stage of development, but growing. The MENA Private Equity Association Guide to Venture Capital for entrepreneurs lists VC firms in the region, and other resources available in the MENA VC ecosystem.

Confidential information

Unlike public companies, information regarding an entrepreneur's business is typically confidential and proprietary. As part of the due diligence process, most venture capitalists will require significant detail with respect to a company's business plan. Entrepreneurs must remain vigilant about sharing information with venture capitalists that are investors in their competitors. Most venture capitalists treat information confidentially, but as a matter of business practice, they do not typically enter into Non Disclosure Agreements because of the potential liability issues those agreements entail. Entrepreneurs are typically well-advised to protect truly proprietary intellectual property.

Limited partners of venture capital firms typically have access only to limited amounts of information with respect to the individual portfolio companies in which they are invested and are typically bound by confidentiality provisions in the fund's limited partnership agreement.

Popular culture

Robert von Goeben and Kathryn Siegler produced a comic strip called ''The VC'' between the years 1997-2000 that parodied the industry, often by showing humorous exchanges between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Von Goeben was a partner in Redleaf Venture Management when he began writing the strip.

Mark Coggins' 2002 novel ''Vulture Capital'' features a venture capitalist protagonist who investigates the disappearance of the chief scientist in a biotech firm in which he has invested. Coggins also worked in the industry and was co-founder of a dot-com startup. In the Dilbert comic strip, a character named 'Vijay, the World's Most Desperate Venture Capitalist' frequently makes appearances, offering bags of cash to anyone with even a hint of potential. In one strip, he offers two small children with good math grades money based on the fact that if they marry and produce an engineer baby he can invest in the infant's first idea. The children respond that they are already looking for mezzanine funding.

Drawing on his experience as reporter covering technology for the ''New York Times'', Matt Richtel produced the 2007 novel ''Hooked'', in which the actions of the main character's deceased girlfriend, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, play a key role in the plot.

In the TV series Dragons' Den, various startup companies pitch their business plans to a panel of venture capitalists. In the 2005 movie, Wedding Crashers, Jeremy Grey (Vince Vaughn) and John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) are two bachelors who create appearances to play at different weddings of complete strangers, and a large part of the movie follows them posing as venture capitalists from New Hampshire.

A documentary, ''Something Ventured'', chronicled the recent history of American technology venture capitalists.

See also

Venture capital financing

Corporate Venture Capital

History of private equity and venture capital

List of venture capital firms

Adventure capital

Angel investor

Crowd funding

Enterprise Capital Fund a type of Venture Capital fund in the UK

IPO

M&A

National Venture Capital Association

Private equity

Private equity secondary market

Seed funding

Sweat equity

Social Venture Capital

Notes

References

Campbell, Katherine. Smarter Ventures: A Survivor's Guide to Venture Capital Through the New Cycle. Financial Times Management Press. ISBN 0-273-65403-9

Gompers, Paul, and Josh Lerner, "The Venture Capital Cycle", 2nd ed., MIT press, 2004.

Ortgiese, Jens: ''Value Added by Venture Capital Firms''. Eul publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89936-621-1

What Are Venture Capitalists Looking For in an RFID Start-up?, RFID Radio

Introduction to Venture Capital and Private Equity Finance, The Encyclopedia of Private Equity

VentureSource. Venture Capital Industry Overview, 1Q07. Dow Jones VentureSource.

Hervé Lebret, "Start-Up : what we may still learn from Silicon Valley", CreateSpace, 2007, ISBN 1-4348-2006-8

Josephson, Matthew, "The Money Lords; the great finance capitalists, 1925-1950", New York, Weybright and Talley, 1972.

External links

The Global Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index

Category:Private equity Category:Financial terminology

ar:رأس مال استثماري bg:Венчър капитал ca:Capital risc da:Venturekapital de:Risikokapital et:Riskikapital es:Capital riesgo fa:سرمایه گذاری خطرپذیر fr:Capital risque ko:벤처 캐피털 id:Modal ventura it:Venture capital he:קרן הון סיכון lv:Riska kapitāls lt:Rizikos kapitalas ms:Modal teroka nl:Durfkapitaal ja:ベンチャーキャピタル no:Risikokapital pl:Venture capital pt:Capital de risco ru:Венчурный капитал simple:Venture capital sk:Venture capital sv:Riskkapital ta:துணிகர மூலதனம் uk:Венчурний капітал vi:Đầu tư mạo hiểm zh:风险投资

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Perez Hilton
birth name	Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr.
birth date	March 23, 1978
birth place	Miami, Florida, U.S.
occupation	Blogger, television personality
years active	2001–present
website	PerezHilton.com }}

Mario Armando Lavandeira, Jr. (born March 23, 1978), better known as Perez Hilton (a play on "Paris Hilton"), is an American blogger and television personality. His blog, ''Perezhilton.com'' (formerly ''PageSixSixSix.com''), is known for posts covering gossip items about musicians, actors and celebrities. He is also known for posting tabloid photographs over which he has added his own captions or "doodles." His blog has garnered negative attention for its attitude, its active "outing" of alleged closeted celebrities and its role in the increasing coverage of celebrities in all forms of media.

Early life

Hilton was born in Miami, Florida to parents from Cuba. He graduated in 1996 from Miami's Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and received his BFA in drama from New York University. In 2002, Hilton moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides.

PerezHilton.com

After graduation from New York University in 2000, and before beginning his blogging career, Hilton attempted a career as an actor. He briefly worked as a media relations assistant for LGBT rights organization GLAAD, was a freelance writer for gay publications, worked as a receptionist for NYC gay events club Urban Outings, and was briefly the managing editor of ''Instinct'', a gay men's magazine. He says he started blogging "because it seemed easy."

Hilton's angle on celebrity gossip includes an unapologetic desire to mingle with and be a part of celebrity culture. He often describes celebrity awards shows, clubs, and private events he has attended, and posts photographs of himself with the celebrities he writes about under the "Personally Perez" category of his blog. Although Hilton has an affinity for some celebrities, such as Lady Gaga and Sophia Bush, he also has a "vendetta" against certain stars, such as Disney Channel star Vanessa Hudgens and Gossip Girl teen actress Taylor Momsen. Teen phenomenon Miley Cyrus publicised her personal disapproval of Hilton over Twitter to which he replied. Some have suggested, however, that Hilton's proximity to the celebrities about whom he writes has led to biased coverage on his blog. He purports to have befriended Paris Hilton, the source of his nickname and frequent subject of his posts. It has been noted, for example, that he rarely reports on stories or rumors casting Paris Hilton in a negative or unflattering light, and that, unlike most gossip blogs, he often acknowledges and praises her positive achievements. Additionally, Hilton has been known to speak out publicly against the discriminatory behavior of celebrities and other public figures. For instance, he called for the firing of Isaiah Washington from ABC television series ''Grey's Anatomy'' for making homophobic remarks and called for his readers to do the same. However, in early 2007, he was criticized by the blog ''The Hollywood Gossip'' for ignoring racist and homophobic remarks made by Paris Hilton.

Hilton often promotes his favorite up-and-coming musicians by posting streams of their songs under the "Listen To This" category of his blog. London-based singer Mika's 2007 rise to popular success in North America has been partially attributed to Hilton's frequent support. Hilton and Mika also claim to be friends.

Blogging success

On March 11, 2005, within the first six months of Hilton's blogging career, ''PageSixSixSix.com'' was named "Hollywood's Most-Hated Website" by ''The Insider'', catalyzing an initial surge in its popularity which temporarily crippled its server. Hilton claimed that on July 30, 2007, a seemingly "ordinary day," ''Perezhilton.com'' had over 8.82 million page views in a 24 hour period. Other sources dispute the reliability of Hilton's traffic claims.

Pop singer Fergie has confirmed that she is referring to Hilton in her 2006 song "Pedestal," in which she criticizes an unidentified person for making negative remarks about her on the internet.

On August 17, 2007, citing exclusive sources, Hilton announced the death of Cuban President Fidel Castro, and claimed that he was the first media outlet in the world to break the news. Although Hilton claimed that U.S. officials would be making an announcement within hours, no announcement was made, and no major media outlets verified Castro's death. The Associated Press later determined that rumors were sparked by a meeting of Miami officials who were to discuss the city's plans when Castro dies. Rumors were further fueled by a road closure in the Florida Keys that was due to a police standoff. Castro appeared in an interview on Cuban television on September 21, 2007, "looking frail but sounding lucid," and mocking rumors of his death. On September 9, 2009, Perez appeared on The Tyra Banks Show and cited his premature reporting of Castro's death as his "one regret."

On September 15, 2008, Terra.com named Perez Hilton as the Hispanic of the Year in Honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

As of April 2009 PerezHilton.com was ranked by Alexa as the 491st most trafficked website on the Internet (143rd within the United States) with 2/3 of users being American and strongest demographic being females between the ages of 18 and 24.

Civil litigation

A suit against Hilton for copyright infringement was filed by Zomba Label Group on October 11, 2007, stating that Hilton illegally posted recordings by Britney Spears on PerezHilton.com. The illegal postings include at least 10 completed songs and unfinished recordings leaked over a period of three months. The suit asks for real and punitive damages in an unspecified amount as well as legal costs. Spears is not a party to the suit. In March 2008, Hilton announced on his blog that he would no longer blog about artists signed to Sony BMG (which owns Zomba). However, when the lawsuit was settled in November of that year, Hilton ended his boycott and resumed regular blogging about Sony BMG artists.

On October 11, 2007, a judge cleared the way for Hilton to be deposed in an on-going defamation suit brought against him by DJ Samantha Ronson, after a post on PerezHilton.com claimed that she had planted cocaine in friend Lindsay Lohan's car and set Lohan up to be photographed while under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Hilton's report was a repetition of gossip initially posted on CelebrityBabylon.com. The judge was informed in court that the owner of that site has already settled the case with Ronson. On January 23, 2008, Perez Hilton was awarded $85,000 by Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle in this lawsuit filed by Ronson.

Hilton has attracted lawsuits due to his use of video footage of celebrities on his blog. He was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by attorneys for Irish actor Colin Farrell on July 18, 2005, after posting a link to Farrell's sex tape with then-girlfriend Nicole Narain on his site and on February 20, 2007, a lawsuit filed against him by Universal City Studios Productions LLP for posting a topless image of actress Jennifer Aniston that was allegedly "misappropriated and illegally copied" from unreleased footage from her 2006 motion picture ''The Break-Up''.

Bloggers, journalists, news agencies and photographers alike have charged that Hilton posts paparazzi photographs and other copyrighted content from their sites. On November 30, 2006, celebrity photo agency X17Online filed a lawsuit against L Hilton in federal court, seeking over US$7.5 million in damages for copyright infringement. X17's co-owner Robin Navarre told the ''LA Times'' that the sale value of their photographs has been significantly reduced because the photos have appeared on PerezHilton.com before they could be published in magazines to which exclusivity is important. Navarre said,

"X17 can make as much as tens of thousands of dollars from one magazine on an exclusive story. In the case of the Spears smooch shot, X17 sold a two-page spread to Us Weekly, but the magazine decided to shrink the photo play (which lowered the price by $10,000, to $15,000)...because the images had already been on Hilton's site and others."

Hilton defends his use of this material by claiming it falls under the fair use exception to the Copyright Act; that is, according to the ''LA Times'', the photos are altered "to achieve a satiric or humorous end." On March 9, 2007, a judge ruled that Hilton could continue operating his website while the lawsuit remained before the courts. On April 23, 2007, a consortium of five celebrity photo agencies filed a joint lawsuit in federal district court in California against Hilton, claiming more than US$7 million in damages from 25 instances of alleged copyright infringement. Just days later, on April 26, 2007, upon arriving at the Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia to attend the MTV Australia Video Music Awards, Hilton was served with a lawsuit by celebrity photo agency PhotoNews claiming C$4,200 in damages for his alleged unauthorized use of a single copyrighted paparazzi photograph of John Mayer and Jessica Simpson.

On June 20, 2007, ''Variety'' reported that Hilton's web host had dropped his site upon threats of liability in the cases outlined above. Francois Navarre, co-owner of X17, told Variety, "It's the first victory, and we put a lot of work into trying to get this to happen." He added, "It's a precedent that's huge. When we were talking to Crucial Paradigm they were saying they were not responsible, dragging their feet. We had to threaten them and show them they were liable. His new host is Blogads, and we're contacting them already."

On June 26, 2007, Hilton posted an open call on his blog to all of X17's photographers, both past and present, to contact him if they have not been adequately compensated for working overtime or pictures submitted in the past. Hilton has not used photos by X17 on his website since the suit.

According to an August 2009 ''Los Angeles Times'' profile of Hilton, X17's lawsuit against Hilton was ultimately settled out of court. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Outing" celebrities

On his blog, Hilton is open about his homosexuality and about his desire to "out" those who he claims are closeted gay celebrities. When former 'N Sync member Lance Bass officially came out as gay on July 26, 2006, Hilton received criticism for having been partially responsible in the outing. "It upsets me that people think what I'm doing is a bad thing," Hilton told ''Access Hollywood''. "I don't think it's a bad thing. If you know something to be a fact, why not report it? Why is that still taboo?" On November 2, 2006, another celebrity often questioned by Hilton for remaining closeted, actor Neil Patrick Harris, revealed that he is gay.

Prominent members of the gay community who have criticized Hilton's outing tactics include Arts & Entertainment Editor of ''The Advocate'' Corey Scholibo, AfterElton.com editor Michael Jensen, and Damon Romine, spokesperson for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Kim Ficera, contributing writer for AfterEllen.com, wrote,

"I have to question the character of a man who attacks others on such deeply personal levels, without provocation and for self-benefit, monetary or otherwise....If he's emotionally incapable of exhibiting even the tiniest bit of compassion for closeted people, if he can't be sensitive to the fact that coming out is a very personal decision and that the process can be difficult for some — especially celebrities — I feel sorry for him. If his juvenile behavior is his shtick, I think it makes him a much more pathetic figure, and one the gay and lesbian community should not support...If we support behavior like Hilton's, we applaud shallowness, arrogance, rage and invasion of privacy, and risk becoming what we despise."

Some of Hilton's fellow gossip bloggers have also objected to his approach. Trent Vanegas, who runs "Pink Is the New Blog," told Salon.com, "I do not outright call people gay. I do not feel it is my place, or anyone else's place, to make people come out of the closet. Being shockingly hurtful just to get attention is not my style." David Hauslaib of gossip blog Jossip.com stated, "The rationale that he's doing this for the good of that gay community is tantamount to saying that there is a gay agenda. Is this a positive for the gay community? I'd say, 'No.'" Author, screenwriter, and former friend Japhy Grant has also questioned his motives, writing on Salon.com, "Spreading gossip is just your average pedestrian variety of immorality. Claiming that you're doing it to further civil rights is an outright sham."

When questioned on ''Midweek Politics'' about whether reporting on celebrities' sexual orientation incites homophobia by making it news, Hilton indicated that he did not believe so. He said that coming out in Hollywood is not necessarily a bad thing, citing Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell as examples: "I know there is some controversy about outing people, but I also believe the only way we're gonna have change is with visibility. And if I have to drag some people screaming out of the closet, then I will. I think that lots of celebrities have an archaic fear that being gay will hurt their career but look at Rosie. Look at Ellen."

Some prominent gay rights advocates disagree. GLAAD spokesperson Damon Romine told Salon.com, "Media speculation about a celebrity's orientation is not something we support. This kind of gossip can lead some people to the decision to come out, as we've seen recently, or it may drive others further into the closet. People are going to become more guarded and secretive and not less, because they don't want to create any opportunities [for anyone to out them]." Actor Bruce Vilanch said, "What purpose does it serve? These [people like Perez] are professional homosexuals. They are gay people for a living. They have to respect the rights of homosexuals who aren't professional." In an article entitled "Just How Dangerous is Perez Hilton?", AfterElton.com suggested that Hilton's actions put people's careers at risk, because anti-gay bias is still a prominent part of American culture. He continued, "Both as a gay man and a journalist, I question whether the gay community should approve of Hilton's actions....Being associated with someone who publishes photos of panty-less starlets and scribbles dirty notes....makes us look infantile and ridiculous."

Controversy

Miss USA 2009

Hilton served as a judge for the Miss USA 2009 pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 19, 2009.

During the Q&A portion of the contest, Hilton asked the Miss California USA representative, Carrie Prejean whether she believed every state should legalize same-sex marriage. She responded that she believes marriage is between a man and a woman due to her religious upbringing. After the pageant Perez Hilton made derogatory comments about the contestant and told ABC news "She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that," leading some to believe that the answer directly had caused her to lose the competition. Prejean stated that Miss California USA officials had pressured her to apologize for her statement and "not talk" about her Christian faith.

After the pageant, Hilton posted a video blog on his website, where he called Prejean a "dumb bitch" and said her answer was the worst in pageant history. Several politicians and commentators, including gay rights activists, assailed Hilton and defended Prejean for promoting her personal beliefs.

Post MMVA 2009 incident in Toronto

In June 2009, Hilton alleged in a video blog that he was assaulted by The Black Eyed Peas' operation manager Polo Molina following the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards after-party where the Black Eyed Peas' front man will.i.am was DJing. Hilton reported in his video that he was "clocked" in the eye by Molina. will.i.am also released a video statement in which he claimed he had approached Hilton regarding derogatory comments made by the blogger concerning bandmate Fergie and the group's latest release ''The E.N.D.''. During the incident, Hilton called will.i.am a "faggot" (Hilton later admitted in an interview with The Advocate that he originally considered using the word "nigger" instead) in order to get a reaction out of him, and it was at this point that Molina allegedly attacked Hilton. will.i.am claimed the attacking party was a fan, although Molina has been detained and will appear in a Toronto court concerning the incident. Hilton would later file a civil lawsuit against Molina, seeking an unspecified amount over $25,000 US to cover medical costs and as compensation for the "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress" that Hilton suffered as a result of the attack.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation called upon Hilton to apologize for using an anti-gay slur against will.i.am during the incident, saying "We have reached out to Hilton and asked him to apologize . . . and we would ask media outlets to avoid repetition of the slur in their coverage of this story." Hilton initially refused to apologize, saying, "I am saddened GLAAD chose to victimize me further by criticizing me for how I non-violently dealt with a very scary situation that, unfortunately, turned violent." On June 25, 2009, however, Hilton did apologize, stating "I am NOT apologizing to GLAAD...I am apologizing to the gay community, to anyone who was hurt by my choice of words, and to all the people who have ever emailed me to thank me for all that I have done to fight for gay rights over the last few years." In addition, he pledged to donate any money won in the lawsuit against Molina to the Matthew Shepard Foundation. In a statement released on its website, Judy Shepard, Chair of the MSF, declined the gift, saying that "because the lawsuit presumably involves the physical attack prompted by Mr. Hilton's admitted use of an anti-gay slur, the Foundation will be unable to accept any funds obtained in such a manner."

Hilton received little sympathy in the media over the incident, a fact he addressed in his video blog. John Mayer made comments ridiculing Hilton and the incident on his Twitter page, resulting in a volley of insults between the two. Gawker viewed Hilton's public apology with skepticism, being of the opinion that it was just an attempt to rebuild his "brand" and a possible attempt to prevent Canadian authorities from filing criminal charges against him for his use of hate speech during the Toronto incident.

Michael Jackson's death

On June 25, 2009, shortly after Michael Jackson had gone into cardiac arrest, Hilton posted an article about the star's illness, claiming it was a publicity stunt. Hilton's original post featured sarcastic comments such as "Get your money back, ticket holders!!!!" and "Jacko pulled a similar stunt when he was getting ready for his big HBO special in ‘95 when he “collapsed” at rehearsal!", in response to Jackson's recently sold out tour through March of 2010. Upon realizing Michael Jackson's death was not a hoax, Hilton immediately deleted the original news post and replaced it with a shorter message that linked to a story at entertainment news site TMZ, which said the singer had in fact gone into cardiac arrest. Hilton has received backlash for the incident, becoming entangled in a Twitter argument with Pete Wentz about the situation.

Miley Cyrus upskirt picture

On June 13, 2010, Hilton posted a Twitter message linking to an upskirt picture of Miley Cyrus, which allegedly showed the singer without underpants. Since Cyrus was still underage at the time, Hilton could have arguably faced child pornography charges for distributing the image. The site that was been linked removed the picture in question. Perez responded to the accusations by claiming that the controversy was "fake" and that Cyrus did wear underwear in the photo in question. Hilton did not re-post the photo for proof. Instead, he linked to another image of Cyrus, supposedly taken on the same occasion, to prove that she had been wearing underwear.

Television appearances

In 2001, Hilton made an appearance in ''The Sopranos'' episode 3.29, "Fortunate Son". His character, hands over the proceeds of a Jewel benefit concert at Rutgers University, whose ticket office Christopher Moltisanti and Benny Fazio rob at gunpoint.

In 2004, a then- 206 lb. Hilton appeared as a contestant on the "Madonna Style" episode of VH1's reality weight loss show, ''Flab To Fab''. At the time, Hilton had 30% body fat and a 41” waist. Hilton lost a total of 45 lbs. in three months and dropped 13” around his waist, leaving him at 160 lbs and a 28” waist for his 6’0” frame, and a greatly reduced level of body fat.

On July 13, 2007, Hilton announced on the TV show ''The View'' that he would star in his own reality television show on VH1. The series of six one-hour episodes, titled ''What Perez Sez'', aired its first part on September 11, 2007.

Hilton appeared as a contestant on MTV's ''Celebrity Rap Superstar'', which debuted August 30, 2007. He was eliminated in week 6 of the contest by judges' vote. On September 29, 2007, he hosted a ''Best of MADtv'' episode featuring pop culture parody sketches from previous seasons. He has appeared in music videos such as Simple Plan's "When I'm Gone", The Pussycat Dolls's "Hush Hush; Hush Hush" and Rihanna's "S&M". Hilton has also appeared in reality shows such as ''Victoria Beckham: Coming To America'', ''MTV Cribs'', ''The-N's Queen Bees'', ''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Tori Spelling THS'' and ''Paris Hilton's My New BFF''. In addition to reality television Lavendeira has guest starred as himself in scripted shows such as and Privileged.

Hilton is also a regular on TV Series ''TRL'', ''Much Music'', and ''Extra'' where he appears via satellite from his closet studio to talk about gossip.

He co-hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and after Rick Astley did not show up to collect his award for best act ever at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Perez Hilton collected the prize on Rick's behalf.

On June 21, 2009, Hilton was a presenter at the 2009 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto, Ontario.

On December 2, 2009, Hilton was a guest on the TV show ''The View''.

In 2010, Hilton guest starred as himself in the episode "Wi-Fi in the Sky" on ''Victorious''.

Radio

Hilton premiered his nationally syndicated radio show, ''Radio Perez'', which included updates from his blog, on May 5, 2008. He has also appeared on ''The Howard Stern Show'' on Sirius Satellite Radio. Most recently on January 8, 2009.

Personal life

During an interview in Cliché Magazine's June/July 2010 issue, Hilton said that he only started blogging as a hobby. "What set my site apart is that prior to PerezHilton.com, most blogs were mainly online journals and diaries, but that never interested me. I wanted to talk about celebrities because they're far more entertaining."

Hilton is openly gay.

Discography

Hilton has a song called "The Clap", which is about Gonorrhea. The song is composed and produced by Lucian Piane.

{|class="wikitable" border="1" |- !Year !Title !Album !Producer !Composer !Notes |- |rowspan="2"| 2008 |"The Clap"

Released: 4 September 2008

|— |Lucian Piane |Lucian Piane |The song is about Gonorrhea. |- |"The Clap" (Remix)

Released: 17 October 2008

|— |Lucian Piane |Lucian Piane |This is a remix of the original song. |}

Other appearances

{|class="wikitable" border="1" |- ! Year ! Artist ! Song ! Release |- |rowspan="2"|2009 |Larry Tee feat. Perez Hilton |"My Penis" (Edu K Schlong Dong Silver Remix) |''Club Badd'' |- |Larry Tee feat. Perez Hilton |"My Penis" (Original Version / Remixes)

(Original Version)

(Edu K Schlong Dong Silver Video Edit)

(Edu K Schlong Dong Silver Mix)

(Act Yo Age Refixxx)

(UltraViolet Sound Remix)

(Aout6 Mix)

(Tom Budiansky Remix)

|''My Penis (feat. Perez Hilton) / My Pussy (feat. Amanda Lepore)'' |}

Special appearances

Hilton appears in Britney Spears's tour, The Circus Starring Britney Spears. Hilton appears dressed as Queen Elizabeth I.

Hilton appears in the 2010 Vengaboys video "Rocket To Uranus".

Hilton appears in the 2011 Rihanna video ''S&M'', "on a leash as Rihanna's pet."

Filmography

Film

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
	''Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild''	Himself	Shot in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Television

! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
	''The Sopranos''	Male Student	Credited as Mario Lavandeira (Episode 3.3).
	''From Flab to Fab''	Himself (as Mario)	VH1's reality weight-loss show.
	''Pepper Dennis''	Gay Club Goer	Credited as Perez Hilton (Episode 1.9).
	''MuchOnDemand''	Himself	Occasional guest via web-cam to discuss daily gossip.
	''Celebrity Rap Superstar''	Himself	Eliminated week 6 by judges vote.
	''What Perez Sez''	Himself	A series of specials airing on VH1.
	''MADtv''	Himself	Guest Appearance.
	''The 100 Most Annoying People Of 2007''	Himself	BBC.
		Himself	Appears Every Week To Talk About Gossip (Via Web Cam From His Closet Studio).
		Himself	Interviewed the queen bees.
	''Paris Hilton's My New BFF: Casting Special''	Himself	MTV Reality Series.
	''Fido Awards	Himself	Opened for the Most Outrageous poop nominees.
		Himself	Appears Every Week To Talk About Gossip (Via Web Cam From His Closet Studio).
	''The Martha Stewart Show	Himself	Guest appearance to discuss blogging.
		Himself
	''Mtv's My Super Sweet 16 UK SEASON 2	Himself	*Freddy's Sweet 15 * Present VT.
		Himself	Reunion Host.
		Himself	Guest Appearance (Episode 818 to Episode 822, Titled ''Paradise City'').
		Himself	Reunion Host.
2010	''When I Was 17''	Himself
2010	''America's Next Top Model''	Himself	Guest appearance in episode 1402
2010	''Tosh.0''	Himself	Guest Appearance in episode 38
2010	''Victorious''	Himself	Guest appearance on the episode ''Wi-Fi in the Sky''

References

External links

Official website

Perez Hilton in Trouble at ''Variety.com''

Perez Hilton is Terra's Hispanic of the Year

Category:1978 births Category:American bloggers Category:American Internet personalities Category:American talk radio hosts Category:Galician people Category:Gay writers Category:Gossip columnists Category:American infotainers Category:LGBT American people of Cuban descent Category:LGBT television personalities Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:New York University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Miami, Florida

de:Perez Hilton es:Perez Hilton fa:پرز هیلتون fr:Perez Hilton gl:Mario Armando Lavandeira it:Perez Hilton hu:Perez Hilton nl:Perez Hilton ja:ペレス・ヒルトン no:Perez Hilton pt:Perez Hilton ru:Перес Хилтон simple:Perez Hilton fi:Perez Hilton sv:Perez Hilton tr:Perez Hilton

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Prakash Raj
birth name	Prakash Rai
birth date	March 26, 1965
birth place	Puttur, Karnataka, India
yearsactive	1986–present
spouse	Lalitha Kumari (1994–2009 divorced)Pony Verma (2010–present)
occupation	Film actor, producer, Film director
children	Meghna Pooja Sidhu (2000 – 20 March 2004) }}

Prakash Rai (Kannada & Tulu: ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ರೈ; born 26 March 1965), better known by his stage name Prakash Raj, is a National Award winning actor and producer who has worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam films. Though he was born in a Tulu family he achieved fame through Tamil and Telugu films. He got introduced to films by K. Balachander in the movie Duet (1994). In remembrance, he named his production company "Duet Movies".

He has played a variety of roles, most notably as the antagonist in Tamil and Telugu and of late, as a character actor. He is considered to be one amongst the club of natural actors. He has won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Mani Ratnam's ''Iruvar'' and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for his role in ''Kanchivaram'', a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan.

Early life

Prakash Raj was born to a Tulu speaking Bunt family in Puttur, Karnataka on 26 March 1965. He did his schooling from St.Joseph's Indian High School in Bangalore. He later joined St. Josephs College of commerce, Bangalore, where he participated in many plays, most of which were in Kannada.

Personal life

Prakash married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994. They have two daughters—Meghna and Pooja and a son, Sidhu. Sidhu died of injuries sustained in a fall in 2004. The couple divorced in 2009. He then married choreographer Pony Verma on August 24, 2010.

Career

As actor

Prakash began his acting career with Kannada Doordarshan serials like ''Bisilu Kudure'' and ''Guddada Bhootha''. He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films like ''Raamachari'', ''Nishkarsha'' and ''Lockup Death''. He was noticed for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in form of ''Harakeya Kuri'' starring Vishnuvardhan and Geetha, directed by K. S. L. Swamy. His performance in the movie was noticed by Geetha and she, in turn, introduced him to her mentor K. Balachander, a Tamil film director. He acted under the screen name "Prakash Rai" in Kannada films and was rechristened "Prakash Raj" by K. Balachander for his debut Tamil film ''Duet'', which saw him playing his first major role. He became popular through Tamil films, where he did most of his films. Following this he went on to act in more than 250 films.

Prakash Raj re-entered Kannada films through ''Nagamandala'' in 1997, directed by T.S. Nagabharana which was selected for Indian Panorama in the International Film Festival in 1997. He was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, ''Netru, Indru, Naalai''. In 1997, he acted in Mani Ratnam's biopic film ''Iruvar''. The movie dealt with the relationship between politicians M. G. Ramachandran and M. Karunanidhi, for which he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. One of Prakash Raj's greatest hits was his role in Telugu film ''Okkadu'', where he played a gangster who is in love with the heroine. After ''Okkadu'', Prakash Raj was flooded with offers. The film was remade in Tamil as ''Ghilli'' and in Kannada as ''Ajay'' starring Puneet Rajkumar. His 2007 production ''Mozhi'' was a box-office hit and praised by critics proving that he can play a comedy role just as good as a negative character.

''Mozhi'', directed by Radha Mohan, was well acclaimed. He played an important role in Venkat Prabhu's ''Saroja'' which became a box-office success. In 2008 he produced a film titled ''Abhiyum Naanum'' and played an important character in it. He remade the movie in Kannada as ''Naanu Nanna Kanasu'' which was critically acclaimed as well.

As producer

He took on the mantle of producer and has produced several movies in Tamil (Kollywood). Most of the movies he produced turned out to be box-office hits and were also critically acclaimed. His movies are also considered as family entertainers. He produced the movie ''Dhaya'' in which he acted as the hero with actress Meena which was a hit and earned him a special jury award for his performance. His movie ''Poi'' (''lie'' in English) directed by his mentor, K. Balachander, was a non-grosser. It starred Uday Kiran, K. Balachander and Prakash Raj.

Prakash Raj had danced in the song "Kanchi Paanaiyin Maela" for his film Vellithirai.

His Kannada production ''Naanu Nanna Kanasu'' completed 100 days successfully across Karanataka. His next production venture, titled ''Akasmaath'', is a remake of the Telugu hit ''Aithe'' and stars himself along with new actors. The movie is scheduled to go on floors in September 2010 to be directed by Dayal Padmanabhan.

As director

Prakash Raj directed ''Naanu Nanna Kanasu'' in Kannada (2010), a remake of his own Tamil production ''Abhiyum Naanum''.. His next directorial venture is a Tamil - Telugu bilingual, sports venture ''Dhoni'' named after Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Awards

National Film Awards

1998 - Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film ''Iruvar''. 1999 - Special Jury Award for his performance in the Telugu film ''Anthapuram''. 2003 - Special Jury Award for his roles in Tamil film ''Dhaya'' and Telugu film ''Khadgam''. 2008 - Best Actor Award for his performance in the Tamil film ''Kanchivaram''.

Filmfare Awards South

2002 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) - ''Nuvve Nuvve''

2003 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award (Telugu) - ''Tagore''

2004 - Filmfare Best Villain Award (Tamil) - ''Ghilli''

2005 - Filmfare Award for Best Villain - Tamil - ''Sivakasi''

2009 - Filmfare Best Actor Award (Tamil) - ''Kanchivaram''

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

2000 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain - ''Vaanavil''

2005 - Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain - Various films

Nandi Awards

Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor - ''Khadgam'' (2002)

Nandi Award for Best Character Actor - ''Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi'' (2003)

Nandi Award for Best Villain - ''Gangotri'' (2003)

Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor - ''Bommarillu'' (2006)

Filmography

References

External links

Category:1965 births Category:Indian actors Category:Kannada film actors Category:Mangaloreans Category:National Film Award winners Category:Non Malayali actors acted in Malayalam-language films Category:People from Mangalore Category:Tamil film actors Category:Tulu people Category:Living people Category:Indian agnostics Category:Indian film actors Category:Hindi film actors Category:Indian television actors Category:Indian film producers Category:Telugu film actors

kn:ಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ರೈ ml:പ്രകാശ് രാജ് pl:Prakash Raj ta:பிரகாஷ் ராஜ் te:ప్రకాష్ రాజ్

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Bing Crosby
background	solo_singer
birth name	Harry Lillis Crosby
born	May 03, 1903Tacoma, Washington, U.S.
origin	Spokane, Washington, U.S.
died	October 14, 1977Madrid, Spain
instrument	Vocals
voice type	Baritone/Bass-baritone
genre	Traditional pop, jazz, vocal
occupation	Singer, actor
years active	1926–1977
label	Brunswick, Decca, Reprise, RCA Victor, Verve, United Artists
associated acts	Bob Hope, Dixie Lee, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, The Rhythm Boys, Rosemary Clooney, David Bowie, Louis Armstrong
website	http://www.bingcrosby.com }}

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation.

A multimedia star, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses. His early career coincided with technical recording innovations; this allowed him to develop a laid-back, intimate singing style that influenced many of the popular male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. ''Yank'' magazine recognized Crosby as the person who had done the most for American G.I. morale during World War II and, during his peak years, around 1948, polls declared him the "most admired man alive," ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, the ''Music Digest'' estimated that Crosby recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.

Crosby exerted an important influence on the development of the postwar recording industry. He worked for NBC at the time and wanted to record his shows; however, most broadcast networks did not allow recording. This was mainly because of the quality of recording at the time. While in Europe performing during the war, Crosby had witnessed tape recording, on which The Crosby Research Foundation would come to have many patents. The company also developed equipment and recording techniques such as the Laugh Track which are still in use today. In 1947, he invested $50,000 in the Ampex company, which built North America's first commercial reel-to-reel tape recorder. He left NBC to work for ABC, because NBC was not interested in recording at the time. This proved beneficial because ABC accepted him and his new ideas. Crosby then became the first performer to pre-record his radio shows and master his commercial recordings onto magnetic tape. He gave one of the first Ampex Model 200 recorders to his friend, musician Les Paul, which led directly to Paul's invention of multitrack recording. Along with Frank Sinatra, Crosby was one of the principal backers behind the famous United Western Recorders recording studio complex in Los Angeles.

During the "Golden Age of Radio," performers often had to recreate their live shows a second time for the west coast time zone. Through the aegis of recording, Crosby constructed his radio programs with the same directorial tools and craftsmanship (editing, retaking, rehearsal, time shifting) being used in motion picture production. This became the industry standard.

Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O'Malley in the 1944 motion picture ''Going My Way'', and was nominated for his reprise of the role in ''The Bells of St. Mary's'' the next year, becoming the first of four actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character. In 1963, Crosby received the first Grammy Global Achievement Award. Crosby is one of the 22 people to have three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life

Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington, on May 3, 1903, in a house his father built at 1112 North J Street. In 1906, Crosby's family moved to Spokane, Washington. In 1913, Crosby's father built a house at 508 E. Sharp Ave. The house now sits on the campus of Bing's alma mater Gonzaga University and formerly housed the Alumni Association.

He was the fourth of seven children: brothers Larry (1895–1975), Everett (1896–1966), Ted (1900–1973), Harry 'Bing' (1903–1977), and Bob (1913–1993); and two girls, Catherine (1904–1974) and Mary Rose (1906–1990). His parents, Harry Lincoln Crosby (1870–1950), an English-American bookkeeper, and Catherine Helen (known as Kate) Harrigan (1873–1964), who was a second generation Irish-American. Bing's paternal ancestors had emigrated to what would become the U.S. in the 17th century, and included Patience Brewster, the daughter of the Pilgrim leader and ''Mayflower'' passenger William Brewster, (c. 1567 – April 10, 1644).

In 1910, six-year-old Harry Crosby was forever renamed. The Sunday edition of the ''Spokesman-Review'' published a feature called "The Bingville Bugle". Written by humorist Newton Newkirk, ''The Bingville Bugle'' was a parody of a hillbilly newsletter filled with gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spelling, and mock ads. A neighbor, 15-year-old Valentine Hobart, shared Crosby's enthusiasm for "The Bugle" and noting Crosby's laugh, took a liking to him and called him "Bingo from Bingville". Eventually the last vowel was dropped and the nickname stuck.

In 1917, Crosby took a summer job as property boy at Spokane's "Auditorium," where he witnessed some of the finest acts of the day, including Al Jolson, who held Crosby spellbound with his ad libbing and spoofs of Hawaiian songs. Crosby later described Jolson's delivery as "electric".

Popular success

Music

By 1925, Crosby had formed a vocal duo with partner Al Rinker, brother of singer Mildred Bailey. Mildred introduced Al and Bing to Paul Whiteman, who was at that time America's most famous bandleader. Hired for $150 a week, they made their debut on December 6, 1926 at the Tivoli Theatre (Chicago). Their first recording was "I've Got The Girl," with Don Clark's Orchestra, but the Columbia-issued record did them no vocal favors, as it was inadvertently recorded at a speed slower than it should have been, which increased the singers' pitch when played at 78 rpm. Throughout his career, Bing Crosby often credited Mildred Bailey for getting him his first important job in the entertainment business.

Even as the Crosby and Rinker duo was increasing in popularity, Whiteman added a third member to the group. The threesome, now including pianist and aspiring songwriter Harry Barris, were dubbed "The Rhythm Boys". They joined the Whiteman touring act, performing and recording with musicians Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Eddie Lang and Hoagy Carmichael, and appeared together in a Whiteman movie.

Crosby soon became the star attraction of the Rhythm Boys, and in 1928 had his first number one hit with the Whiteman orchestra, a jazz-influenced rendition of "Ol' Man River". However, Crosby's reported taste for alcohol and his growing dissatisfaction with Whiteman led to the Rhythm Boys quitting to join the Gus Arnheim Orchestra. During his time with Arnheim, the other two Rhythm Boys were increasingly pushed to the background as the emphasis was on Crosby. Harry Barris wrote several of Crosby's subsequent hits including "At Your Command," "I Surrender Dear", and "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams". But the members of the band had a falling out and split, setting the stage for Crosby's solo career.

On September 2, 1931, Crosby made his solo radio debut. Before the end of the year, he signed with both Brunswick Records and CBS Radio. Doing a weekly 15-minute radio broadcast, Crosby quickly became a huge hit. His songs "Out of Nowhere", "Just One More Chance", "At Your Command" and "I Found a Million Dollar Baby (in a Five and Ten Cent Store)" were all among the best selling songs of 1931.

As the 1930s unfolded, Crosby became the leading singer in America. Ten of the top 50 songs for 1931 featured Crosby, either solo or with others. A so-called "Battle of the Baritones" with singing star Russ Columbo proved short-lived, replaced with the slogan "Bing Was King." Crosby played the lead in a series of sound era musical comedy short films for Mack Sennett, signed a long-term deal with Jack Kapp's new record company Decca, and starred in his first full-length feature, 1932's ''The Big Broadcast'', the first of 55 films in which he received top billing. He would appear in 79 pictures.

Around this time Crosby co-starred on radio with The Carl Fenton Orchestra on a popular CBS radio show. By 1936, he'd replaced his former boss, Paul Whiteman, as the host of NBC's ''Kraft Music Hall'', the weekly radio program where he remained for the next ten years. "Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)", which also showcased one of his then-trademark whistling interludes, became his theme song and signature tune.

Crosby's much-imitated style helped take popular singing beyond the kind of "belting" associated with boisterous performers like Al Jolson, who had been obliged to reach the back seats in New York theatres without the aid of the microphone. As Henry Pleasants noted in ''The Great American Popular Singers'', something new had entered American music, a style that might be called "singing in American," with conversational ease. This new sound led to the popular epithet "crooner". Crosby made numerous live appearances before American troops fighting in the European Theater. He also learned how to pronounce German from written scripts, and would read propaganda broadcasts intended for the German forces. The nickname "Der Bingle" for him was understood to have become current among Crosby's German listeners, and came to be used by his English-speaking fans. In a poll of U.S. troops at the close of World War II, Crosby topped the list as the person who had done the most for G.I. morale, ahead of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, General Dwight Eisenhower, and Bob Hope.

"White Christmas"

The biggest hit of Crosby's career was his recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", which he introduced through a radio broadcast during the 1942 Christmas season, and the movie ''Holiday Inn''. Crosby's recording hit the charts on October 3, 1942, and rose to #1 on October 31, where it stayed for 11 weeks. A holiday perennial, the song was repeatedly re-released by Decca, charting another 16 times. It topped the charts again in 1945, and for a third time in January 1947. The song remains the best-selling single of all time. According to Guinness World Records, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" has "sold over 100 million copies around the world, with at least 50 million sales as singles." Crosby's recording was so popular that he was obliged to re-record it in 1947 using the same musicians and backup singers; the original 1942 master had become damaged due to its frequent use in pressing additional singles. Though the two versions are very similar, it is the 1947 recording which is most familiar today. Crosby was dismissive of his role in the song's success, saying later that "a jackdaw with a cleft palate could have sung it successfully."

Motion pictures

''See Bing Crosby filmography'' With 1,077,900,000 movie tickets sold, Crosby is by that measure the third most popular actor of all time, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne. The Quigley Publishing Company's ''International Motion Picture Almanac'' lists Crosby in a tie for second on the "All Time Number One Stars List" with Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks, and Burt Reynolds. Crosby's most popular film, ''White Christmas'', grossed $30 million in 1954 ($}} million in current value). Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for ''Going My Way'' in 1944, and was nominated for the 1945 sequel, ''The Bells of Saint Mary's''. He received critical acclaim for his performance as an alcoholic entertainer in ''The Country Girl'', and received his third Academy Award nomination.

Crosby starred with Bob Hope in seven ''Road to'' musical comedies between 1940 and 1962, cementing the two entertainers as an on-and-off duo, despite never officially declaring themselves a "team" in the sense that Laurel and Hardy or Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were teams. The series consists of ''Road to Singapore'' (1940), ''Road to Zanzibar'' (1941), ''Road to Morocco'' (1942), ''Road to Utopia'' (1946), ''Road to Rio'' (1947), ''Road to Bali'' (1952), and ''The Road to Hong Kong'' (1962), and Crosby and Hope were planning another entry called ''The Road to the Fountain of Youth'' in 1977, which was dropped upon Crosby's death. Appearing solo, Crosby and Hope frequently made note of the other during their various appearances, typically in a comically insulting fashion, and they appeared together countless times on stage, radio, and television over the decades as well as cameos in several additional films.

By the late 1950s, Crosby's singing career had evolved into that of an avuncular elder statesman, and his albums ''Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings'' and ''Bing With A Beat'' sold reasonably well, even in the rock 'n roll era. In 1960, Crosby starred in ''High Time'', a collegiate comedy with Fabian and Tuesday Weld that foretold the emerging gap between older Crosby fans and a new generation of films and music.

Television

''The Fireside Theater'' (1950) was Crosby's first television production. The series of 26-minute shows was filmed at Hal Roach Studios rather than performed live on the air. The "telefilms" were syndicated to individual television stations.

Crosby was a frequent guest on the musical variety shows of the 1950s and 1960s. He was especially closely associated with ABC's variety show ''The Hollywood Palace''. He was the show's first and most frequent guest host, and appeared annually on its Christmas edition with his wife Kathryn and his younger children. In the early 1970s he made two famous late appearances on the ''Flip Wilson Show'', singing duets with the comedian. Crosby's last TV appearance was a Christmas special filmed in London in September 1977 and aired just weeks after his death. It was on this special that Crosby recorded a duet of "Little Drummer Boy" with the flamboyant rock star David Bowie. It was first released as a single five years later, and has since become a staple of holiday radio, and the final popular hit of Crosby's career. At the end of the century, ''TV Guide'' listed the Crosby-Bowie duet as one of the 25 most memorable musical moments of 20th century television.

Bing Crosby Productions, affiliated with Desilu Studios and later CBS Television Studios, produced a number of television series, including Crosby's own unsuccessful ABC sitcom ''The Bing Crosby Show'' in the 1964–1965 season (with co-stars Beverly Garland and Frank McHugh). The company produced two ABC medical dramas, ''Ben Casey'' (1961–1966) and ''Breaking Point'' (1963–1964), the popular ''Hogan's Heroes'' (1965–1971) military comedy on CBS, as well as the lesser-known show ''Slattery's People'' (1964–1965).

Singing style and vocal characteristics

Crosby was one of the first singers to exploit the intimacy of the microphone, rather than using the deep, loud "vaudeville style" associated with Al Jolson and others. Crosby's love and appreciation of jazz music helped bring the genre to a wider mainstream audience. Within the framework of the novelty singing style of The Rhythm Boys, Crosby bent notes and added off-tune phrasing, an approach that was firmly rooted in jazz. He'd already been introduced to Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith prior to his first appearance on record. Crosby and Armstrong would remain professionally friendly for decades, notably in the 1956 film ''High Society'', where they sang the duet "Now You Has Jazz."

During the early portion of his solo career (about 1931-1934), Crosby's emotional, often pleading style of crooning was extremely popular. But Jack Kapp (manager of Brunswick and later Decca) talked Crosby into dropping many of his jazzier mannerisms, in favor of a straight-ahead clear vocal style.

Crosby also elaborated on a further idea of Al Jolson's: phrasing, or the art of making a song's lyric ring true. His success in doing so was influential. "I used to tell Sinatra over and over," said Tommy Dorsey, "there's only one singer you ought to listen to and his name is Crosby. All that matters to him is the words, and that's the only thing that ought to for you, too."

Vocal critic Henry Pleasants wrote: :"[While] the octave B flat to B flat in Bing's voice at that time [1930s] is, to my ears, one of the loveliest I have heard in forty-five years of listening to baritones, both classical and popular, it dropped conspicuously in later years. From the mid-1950s, Bing was more comfortable in a bass range while maintaining a baritone quality, with the best octave being G to G, or even F to F. In a recording he made of 'Dardanella' with Louis Armstrong in 1960, he attacks lightly and easily on a low E flat. This is lower than most opera basses care to venture, and they tend to sound as if they were in the cellar when they get there."

Career statistics

Crosby's was among the most popular and successful musical acts of the 20th century. Although Billboard Magazine operated under different methodologies for the bulk of Crosby's career, his chart numbers remain astonishing: 383 chart singles, including 41 #1 hits. Crosby had separate charting singles in every calendar year between 1931 and 1954; the annual re-release of "White Christmas" extended that streak to 1957. He had 24 separate popular singles in 1939 alone. Billboard's statistician Joel Whitburn determined Crosby to be America's most successful recording act of the 1930s, and again in the 1940s.

thumb|left|250px|Crosby with Danny Kaye in ''[[White Christmas (film)|White Christmas'' (1954)]]For 15 years (1934, 1937, 1940, 1943–1954), Crosby was among the top 10 in box office drawing power, and for five of those years (1944–1948) he was tops in the world. He sang four Academy Award-winning songs – "Sweet Leilani" (1937), "White Christmas" (1942), "Swinging on a Star" (1944), "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" (1951) – and won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in ''Going My Way'' (1944).

He collected 23 gold and platinum records, according to the book ''Million Selling Records.'' The Recording Industry Association of America did not institute its gold record certification program until 1958, by which point Crosby's record sales were barely a blip; prior to that point, gold records are awarded by an artist's own record company. Universal Music, current owner of Crosby's Decca catalog, has never requested RIAA certification for any of his hit singles.

In 1962, Crosby was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been inducted into the halls of fame for both radio and popular music. In 2007 Crosby was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame, and in 2008 into the Western Music Hall of Fame.

Entrepreneurship

Mass media

Crosby's radio career took a significant turn in 1945, when he clashed with NBC over his insistence that he be allowed to pre-record his radio shows. (The live production of radio shows was also reinforced by the musicians' union and ASCAP, which wanted to ensure continued work for their members.) In ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'', historian John Dunning wrote about German engineers having developed a tape recorder with a near-professional broadcast quality standard: :"[Crosby saw] an enormous advantage in prerecording his radio shows. The scheduling could now be done at the star's convenience. He could do four shows a week, if he chose, and then take a month off. But the networks and sponsors were adamantly opposed. The public wouldn't stand for 'canned' radio, the networks argued. There was something magic for listeners in the fact that what they were hearing was being performed, and heard everywhere, at that precise instant. Some of the best moments in comedy came when a line was blown and the star had to rely on wit to rescue a bad situation. Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Phil Harris, and, yes, Crosby were masters at this, and the networks weren't about to give it up easily."

Crosby's insistence eventually factored into the further development of magnetic tape sound recording and the radio industry's widespread adoption of it. He used his clout, both professional and financial, to innovate new methods of reproducing audio of his performances. But NBC (and competitor CBS) were also insistent, refusing to air prerecorded radio programs. Crosby walked away from the network and stayed off the air for seven months, creating a legal battle with Kraft, his sponsor, that was settled out of court. Crosby returned to the air for the last 13 weeks of the 1945–1946 season.

The Mutual network, on the other hand, had pre-recorded some of its programs as early as the 1938 run of ''The Shadow'' with Orson Welles. And the new ABC network, which had been formed out of the sale of the old NBC Blue network in 1943 following a federal anti-trust action, was willing to join Mutual in breaking the tradition. ABC offered Crosby $30,000 per week to produce a recorded show every Wednesday that would be sponsored by Philco. He would also get an additional $40,000 from 400 independent stations for the rights to broadcast the 30-minute show, which was sent to them every Monday on three 16-inch lacquer/aluminum discs that played ten minutes per side at 33⅓ rpm.

Crosby wanted to change to recorded production for several reasons. The legend that has been most often told is that it would give him more time for his golf game. And he did record his first Philco program in August 1947 so he could enter the Jasper National Park Invitational Golf Tournament in September, just when the new radio season was to start. But golf was not the most important reason.

Though Crosby did want more time to tend his other business and leisure activities, he also sought better quality through recording, including being able to eliminate mistakes and control the timing of his show performances. Because his own Bing Crosby Enterprises produced the show, he could purchase the latest and best sound equipment and arrange the microphones his way; the logistics of mic placement had long been a hotly debated issue in every recording studio since the beginning of the electrical era. No longer would he have to wear the hated toupee on his head previously required by CBS and NBC for his live audience shows (he preferred a hat). He could also record short promotions for his latest investment, the world's first frozen orange juice, sold under the brand name Minute Maid. This investment allowed Crosby to make more money by finding a loophole whereby the IRS couldn't tax him at a 77% rate.

The transcription method posed problems, however. The acetate surface coating of the aluminum discs was little better than the wax that Edison had used at the turn of the century, with the same limited dynamic range and frequency response.

But Murdo MacKenzie of Bing Crosby Enterprises had seen a demonstration of the German Magnetophon in June 1947—the same device that Jack Mullin had brought back from Radio Frankfurt, along with 50 reels of tape, at the end of the war. It was one of the magnetic tape recorders that BASF and AEG had built in Germany starting in 1935. The 6.5mm ferric-oxide-coated tape could record 20 minutes per reel of high-quality sound. Alexander M. Poniatoff ordered his Ampex company, which he'd founded in 1944, to manufacture an improved version of the Magnetophone.

Crosby hired Mullin to start recording his ''Philco Radio Time'' show on his German-made machine in August 1947, using the same 50 reels of I.G. Farben magnetic tape that Mullin had found at a radio station at Bad Nauheim near Frankfurt while working for the U.S. Army Signal Corps. The crucial advantage was editing. As Crosby wrote in his autobiography: :"By using tape, I could do a thirty-five or forty-minute show, then edit it down to the twenty-six or twenty-seven minutes the program ran. In that way, we could take out jokes, gags, or situations that didn't play well and finish with only the prime meat of the show; the solid stuff that played big. We could also take out the songs that didn't sound good. It gave us a chance to first try a recording of the songs in the afternoon without an audience, then another one in front of a studio audience. We'd dub the one that came off best into the final transcription. It gave us a chance to ad lib as much as we wanted, knowing that excess ad libbing could be sliced from the final product. If I made a mistake in singing a song or in the script, I could have some fun with it, then retain any of the fun that sounded amusing."

Mullin's 1976 memoir of these early days of experimental recording agrees with Crosby's account: :"In the evening, Crosby did the whole show before an audience. If he muffed a song then, the audience loved it – thought it was very funny – but we would have to take out the show version and put in one of the rehearsal takes. Sometimes, if Crosby was having fun with a song and not really working at it, we had to make it up out of two or three parts. This ad lib way of working is commonplace in the recording studios today, but it was all new to us."

Crosby invested US$50,000 in Ampex with an eye towards producing more machines. In 1948, the second season of Philco shows was taped with the new Ampex Model 200 tape recorder using the new Scotch 111 tape from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M) company. Mullin explained how one new broadcasting technique was invented on the Crosby show with these machines: :"One time Bob Burns, the hillbilly comic, was on the show, and he threw in a few of his folksy farm stories, which of course were not in Bill Morrow's script. Today they wouldn't seem very off-color, but things were different on radio then. They got enormous laughs, which just went on and on. We couldn't use the jokes, but Bill asked us to save the laughs. A couple of weeks later he had a show that wasn't very funny, and he insisted that we put in the salvaged laughs. Thus the laugh-track was born." Crosby had launched the tape recorder revolution in America. In his 1950 film ''Mr. Music'', Bing Crosby is seen singing into one of the new Ampex tape recorders that reproduced his voice better than anything else. Also quick to adopt tape recording was his friend Bob Hope.

Mullin continued to work for Crosby to develop a videotape recorder (VTR). Television production was mostly live television in its early years, but Crosby wanted the same ability to record that he had achieved in radio. 1950's ''The Fireside Theater'', sponsored by Procter and Gamble, was his first television production. Mullin had not yet succeeded with video tape, so Crosby filmed the series of 26-minute shows at the Hal Roach Studios, and the "telefilms" were syndicated to individual television stations.

Crosby did not remain a television producer, but continued to finance the development of videotape. Bing Crosby Enterprises (BCE), gave the world's first demonstration of videotape recording in Los Angeles on November 11, 1951. Developed by John T. Mullin and Wayne R. Johnson since 1950, the device aired what were described as "blurred and indistinct" images, using a modified Ampex 200 tape recorder and standard quarter-inch (6.3 mm) audio tape moving at 360 inches (9.1 m) per second.

TV stations

A Bing Crosby-led group purchased KCOP-TV station in 1954. NAFI Corporation and Bing Crosby purchase together the television station, KPTV, for $4 million on September 1, 1959. In 1960, NAFI purchased KCOP from Crosby's group.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Crosby was a fan of thoroughbred horse racing and bought his first racehorse in 1935. In 1937, he became a founding partner of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and a member of its Board of Directors. Operating from the Del Mar Racetrack at Del Mar, California, the group included millionaire businessman Charles S. Howard, who owned a successful racing stable that included Seabiscuit. His son, Lindsay Howard, became one of Crosby's closest friends; Crosby named his son Lindsay after him, and would purchase his 40-room Hillsborough estate from Lindsay in 1965.

Crosby and Lindsay Howard formed Binglin Stable to race and breed thoroughbred horses at a ranch in Moorpark in Ventura County, California. They also established the Binglin stock farm in Argentina, where they raced horses at Hipódromo de Palermo in Palermo, Buenos Aires. A number of Argentine-bred horses were purchased and shipped to race in the United States. On August 12, 1938, the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race won by Charles S. Howard's Seabiscuit over Binglin's horse Ligaroti. In 1943, Binglin's horse Don Bingo won the Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.

The Binglin Stable partnership came to an end in 1953 as a result of a liquidation of assets by Crosby, who needed to raise enough funds to pay the hefty federal and state inheritance taxes on his deceased wife's estate. The Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar Racetrack is named in his honor.

Crosby was also a co-owner of the British colt Meadow Court, with jockey Johnny Longden's friend Max Bell . Meadow Court won the 1965 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the Irish Derby. In the Irish Derby's winner's circle at the Curragh, Crosby sang "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."

Though Crosby's stables had some success, he often joked about his horseracing failures as part of his radio appearances. "Crosby's horse finally came in" became a running gag.

Crosby the sportsman

Crosby had an interest in sports. In the 1930s, his friend and former college classmate, Gonzaga head coach Mike Pecarovich appointed Crosby as an assistant football coach. From 1946 until the end of his life, he was part-owner of baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates. Although he was passionate about his team, he was too nervous to watch the deciding Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, choosing to go to Paris with Kathryn and listen to the game on the radio. But Crosby had the NBC telecast of the game recorded on kinescope. The game was one of the most famous in baseball history, capped off by Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run. He apparently viewed the complete film just once, and then stored it in his wine cellar, where it remained undisturbed until it was discovered in December 2009. The restored broadcast was shown on MLB Network in December 2010.

Crosby was also an avid golfer, and in 1978, he and Bob Hope were voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Since 1937, the 'Crosby Clambake' as it was popularly known—now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am—has been a leading event in the world of professional golf.

Crosby first took up golf at 12 as a caddy, dropped it, and started again in 1930 with some fellow cast members in Hollywood during the filming of ''The King of Jazz''. Crosby was accomplished at the sport, with a two handicap. He competed in both the British and U.S. Amateur championships, was a five-time club champion at Lakeside Golf Club in Hollywood, and once made a hole-in-one on the 16th at Cypress Point.

Personal life

Crosby was married twice, first to actress/nightclub singer Dixie Lee from 1930 until her death from ovarian cancer in 1952. They had four sons: Gary, twins Dennis and Phillip, and Lindsay. The 1947 film ''Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman'' is indirectly based on her life. After Dixie's death, Crosby had relationships with actresses Inger Stevens and Grace Kelly before marrying the actress Kathryn Grant in 1957. They had three children: Harry (who played Bill in ''Friday the 13th''), Mary (best known for portraying Kristin Shepard, the woman who shot J.R. Ewing on TV's ''Dallas''), and Nathaniel.

Kathryn converted to Catholicism in order to marry the singer. Crosby was also a registered Republican, and actively campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940 against President Roosevelt, arguing that no man should serve more than two terms in the White House. After Willkie lost, Crosby decreed that he would never again make any open political contributions.

Crosby reportedly had an alcohol problem in his youth, and may have been dismissed from Paul Whiteman's orchestra because of it, but he later got a handle on his drinking. ''Village Voice'' jazz critic and Crosby biographer Gary Giddins says that Louis Armstrong's influence on Crosby "extended to his love of marijuana." Crosby smoked it during his early career when it was still legal, and "surprised interviewers" in the 1960s and 70s by advocating its decriminalization. According to Giddins, Crosby told his son Gary to stay away from alcohol ("It killed your mother") and suggested he smoke pot instead. Gary said, "There were other times when marijuana was mentioned and he'd get a smile on his face." Gary thought his father's pot smoking had influenced his easygoing style in his films. Crosby finally quit smoking his pipe following lung surgery in 1974.

After Crosby's death, his eldest son, Gary, wrote a highly critical memoir, ''Going My Own Way'', depicting his father as cold, remote, and both physically and psychologically abusive. Two of Crosby's other sons, Lindsay and Dennis, sided with Gary's claim and stated Crosby abused them as well. Dennis also stated that Crosby would abuse Gary the most often.

Gary Crosby wrote: :"We had to keep a close watch on our actions... When one of us left a sneaker or pair of underpants lying around, he had to tie the offending object on a string and wear it around his neck until he went off to bed that night. Dad called it "the Crosby lavalier." At the time the humor of the name escaped me...

:"Satchel Ass" or "Bucket Butt" or "My Fat-assed Kid." That's how he introduced me to his cronies when he dragged me along to the studio or racetrack... By the time I was ten or eleven he had stepped up his campaign by adding lickings to the regimen. Each Tuesday afternoon he weighed me in, and if the scale read more than it should have, he ordered me into his office and had me drop my trousers... I dropped my pants, pulled down my undershorts and bent over. Then he went at it with the belt dotted with metal studs he kept reserved for the occasion. Quite dispassionately, without the least display of emotion or loss of self-control, he whacked away until he drew the first drop of blood, and then he stopped. It normally took between twelve and fifteen strokes. As they came down I counted them off one by one and hoped I would bleed early...

:When I saw ''Going My Way'' I was as moved as they were by the character he played. Father O'Malley handled that gang of young hooligans in his parish with such kindness and wisdom that I thought he was wonderful too. Instead of coming down hard on the kids and withdrawing his affection, he forgave them their misdeeds, took them to the ball game and picture show, taught them how to sing. By the last reel, the sheer persistence of his goodness had transformed even the worst of them into solid citizens. Then the lights came on and the movie was over. All the way back to the house I thought about the difference between the person up there on the screen and the one I knew at home."

It was revealed that Crosby's will had established a blind trust, with none of the sons receiving an inheritance until they reached the age of 65.

However, younger son Phillip vociferously disputed his brother Gary's claims about their father. Around the time Gary made his claim, Phillip stated to the press that "Gary is a whining...crybaby, walking around with a 2-by-4 and just daring people to nudge it off." However, Phillip did not deny that Crosby believed in corporal punishment. In an interview with People Magazine, Phillip stated that "we never got an extra whack or a cuff we didn't deserve." In an interview conducted in 1999 by the Globe, Phillip said: :"My dad was not the monster my lying brother said he was; he was strict, but my father never beat us black and blue, and my brother Gary was a vicious, no-good liar for saying so. I have nothing but fond memories of Dad, going to studios with him, family vacations at our cabin in Idaho, boating and fishing with him.

:To my dying day, I'll hate Gary for dragging Dad's name through the mud. He wrote ''Going My Own Way'' out of greed. He wanted to make money and knew that humiliating our father and blackening his name was the only way he could do it. He knew it would generate a lot of publicity. That was the only way he could get his ugly, no-talent face on television and in the newspapers.

:My dad was my hero. I loved him very much. He loved all of us too, including Gary. He was a great father." Gary Crosby died in 1995 at the age of 62, and 69-year-old Phillip Crosby died in 2004.

Lindsay and Dennis Crosby each committed suicide, shooting themselves with shotguns in 1989 and 1991, respectively. Nathaniel Crosby, Crosby's youngest son from his second marriage, was a high-level golfer who won the U.S. Amateur at age 19 in 1981, at the time the youngest-ever winner of that event (a record later broken by Tiger Woods). Harry Crosby is an investment banker who occasionally makes singing appearances.

Widow Kathryn Crosby dabbled in local theater productions intermittently, and appeared in television tributes to her late husband. Denise Crosby, Dennis Crosby's daughter, is also an actress and is known for her role as Tasha Yar on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and for the recurring role of the Romulan Sela (daughter of Tasha Yar) after her withdrawal from the series as a regular cast member. She also appeared in the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel ''Pet Sematary''. In 2006, Crosby's niece, Carolyn Schneider, published the laudatory book "Me and Uncle Bing."

Failing health and death

Following his recovery from a life-threatening fungal infection of his right lung in 1974, Crosby emerged from semi-retirement to start a new spate of albums and concerts. In March 1977, after videotaping a concert for CBS to commemorate his 50th anniversary in show business and with a horrified Bob Hope looking on, Crosby backed off the stage and fell into an orchestra pit, rupturing a disc in his back and requiring a month in the hospital. His first performance after the accident was his last American concert, on August 16, 1977; when the power went out, he continued singing without amplification. In September, Crosby, his family, and singer Rosemary Clooney began a concert tour of England that included two weeks at the London Palladium. While in England, Crosby recorded his final album, ''Seasons'', and his final TV Christmas special with guest David Bowie. His last concert was in The Brighton Centre four days before his death, with British entertainer Dame Gracie Fields in attendance. Crosby's last photograph was taken with Fields.

At the conclusion of his work in England, Crosby flew alone to Spain to hunt and play golf. Shortly after 6 p.m. on October 14, Crosby collapsed and died of a massive heart attack after a round of 18 holes of golf near Madrid where he and his Spanish golfing partner had just defeated their opponents. It is widely written that his last words were "That was a great game of golf, fellas." In ''Bob Hope's Confessions of a Hooker: My Lifelong Love Affair With Golf'', the comedian recounts hearing that Crosby had been advised by a physician in England to play only nine holes of golf because of his heart condition.

Legacy

He is a member of the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in the radio division.

The family launched an official website on October 14, 2007, the 30th anniversary of Crosby's death.

In his 1990 autobiography ''Don't Shoot, It's Only Me!'' Bob Hope wrote, "Dear old Bing. As we called him, the ''Economy-sized Sinatra''. And what a voice. God I miss that voice. I can't even turn on the radio around Christmas time without crying anymore."

Calypso musician Roaring Lion wrote a tribute song in 1939 entitled "Bing Crosby", in which he wrote: "Bing has a way of singing with his very heart and soul / Which captivates the world / His millions of listeners never fail to rejoice / At his golden voice..."

Compositions

Crosby co-wrote lyrics to 15 songs. His composition "At Your Command" was no.1 for three weeks on the U.S. pop singles chart beginning on August 8, 1931. "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You" was his most successful composition, recorded by Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, and Mildred Bailey, among others. Songs co-wrotten by Crosby include:

#"That's Grandma" (1927), with Harry Barris and James Cavanaugh #"From Monday On" (1928), with Harry Barris and recorded with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet, no. 14 on US pop singles charts #"What Price Lyrics?" (1928), with Harry Barris and Matty Malneck #"At Your Command" (1931), with Harry Barris and Harry Tobias, US, no. 1 (3 weeks) #"Where the Blue of the Night (Meets the Gold of the Day)" (1931), with Roy Turk and Fred Ahlert, US, no. 4; US, 1940 re-recording, no. 27 #"I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. 5 #"My Woman" (1932), with Irving Wallman and Max Wartell #"Love Me Tonight" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no. 4 #"Waltzing in a Dream" (1932), with Victor Young and Ned Washington, US, no.6 #"I Would If I Could But I Can't" (1933), with Mitchell Parish and Alan Grey #"Where the Turf Meets the Surf" (1941) #"Tenderfoot" (1953) #"Domenica" (1961) #"That's What Life is All About" (1975), with Ken Barnes, Peter Dacre, and Les Reed, US, AC chart, no. 35; UK, no. 41 #"Sail Away to Norway" (1977)

Filmography

Discography

Radio

The Radio Singers (1931, CBS), sponsored by Warner Brothers, 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.

''The Cremo Singer'' (1931–1932, CBS), 6 nights a week, 15 minutes.

Unsponsored (1932, CBS), initially 3 nights a week, then twice a week, 15 minutes.

''Chesterfield's Music that Satisfies'' (1933, CBS), broadcast two nights, 15 minutes.

''Bing Crosby Entertains for Woodbury Soap'' (1933–1935, CBS), weekly, 30 minutes.

''Kraft Music Hall'' (1935–1946, NBC), Thursday nights, 60 minutes until Jan. 1943, then 30 minutes.

Armed Forces Radio (1941–1945; World War II).

''Philco Radio Time'' (1946–1949, ABC), 30 minutes weekly.

''The Bing Crosby Chesterfield Show'' (1949–1952, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.

''The Minute Maid Show'' (1949–1950, CBS), 15 minutes each weekday morning; Bing as disc jockey.

''The General Electric Show'' (1952–1954, CBS), 30 minutes weekly.

''The Bing Crosby Show'' (1954–1956, CBS), 15 minutes, 5 nights a week.

''A Christmas Sing with Bing'' (1955–1962, CBS, VOA and AFRS), 1 hour each year, sponsored by the Insurance Company of North America.

''The Ford Road Show'' (1957–1958, CBS), 5 minutes, 5 days a week.

''The Bing Crosby – Rosemary Clooney Show'' (1958–1962, CBS), 20 minutes, 5 mornings a week, with Rosemary Clooney.

RIAA certification

{| style="background:none" cellpadding="2" |- ! style="width:30%; background:white;"|Album ! style="width:20%; background:white;"|RIAA |- |Merry Christmas |Gold |- |Bing sings |2x platinum |- |White Christmas |4x platinum |}

References

;Bibliography

Macfarlane, Malcolm. ''Bing Crosby – Day By Day''. Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Osterholm, J. Roger. ''Bing Crosby: A Bio-Bibliography''. Greenwood Press, 1994.

Prigozy, R. & Raubicheck, W., ed. ''Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture''. The Boydell Press, 2007.

External links

The Official Bing Crosby Website

Bing Crosby Collection at Gonzaga University

BING magazine (a publication of the ICC)

Bing Crosby Official 10" (78Rpm) Discography

A Bing Crosby Session based discography

Category:1903 births Category:1977 deaths Category:American baritones Category:20th-century actors Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American jazz singers Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:American radio personalities Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Whistlers Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Category:California Republicans Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Decca Records artists Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in Spain Category:American people of English descent Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Major League Baseball executives Category:Major League Baseball owners Category:World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Category:National Radio Hall of Fame inductees Category:MGM Records artists Category:Musicians from Washington (state) Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Spokane, Washington Category:People from Tacoma, Washington Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Pittsburgh Pirates owners Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Victor Records artists Category:Gonzaga Bulldogs football coaches

an:Bing Crosby bcl:Bing Crosby bs:Bing Crosby bg:Бинг Кросби ca:Bing Crosby cs:Bing Crosby cy:Bing Crosby da:Bing Crosby de:Bing Crosby et:Bing Crosby es:Bing Crosby eo:Bing Crosby eu:Bing Crosby fr:Bing Crosby ga:Bing Crosby gl:Bing Crosby hr:Bing Crosby io:Bing Crosby id:Bing Crosby it:Bing Crosby he:בינג קרוסבי ka:ბინგ კროსბი la:Bing Crosby hu:Bing Crosby nl:Bing Crosby ja:ビング・クロスビー no:Bing Crosby pl:Bing Crosby pt:Bing Crosby ru:Кросби, Бинг sq:Bing Crosby simple:Bing Crosby sk:Bing Crosby sl:Bing Crosby sh:Bing Crosby fi:Bing Crosby sv:Bing Crosby tl:Bing Crosby ta:பிங்கு கிராசுபி th:บิง ครอสบี tr:Bing Crosby uk:Бінг Кросбі yo:Bing Crosby zh:冰·哥羅士比

Mark Jeffrey (1825-1903) was an English convict transported to Australia. He was known as "Big Mark", the grave digger on the Isle of the Dead Cemetery at Port Arthur, Tasmania. While a living alone on the island for several years he dug his own grave, which he carefully tended, patting down the sides with a spade to kill marauding worms. Before his death in 1903 he wrote his autobiography which provides an interesting insight into convict life.

References

Category:1825 births Category:1903 deaths Category:Convicts transported to Australia