name	Network Ten
logofile	NetworkTen.svg
logosize	100px
logocaption	Network Ten Logo
launch	1 August 1964
picture format	576i (16:9 SDTV)
slogan	''Seriously TEN''
country	Australia
language	English
sister names	Eleven One HD
broadcast area	Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth
digital areas	Tasmania, Darwin, Mildura
owner	Ten Network Holdings
web	ten.com.au
share	22.2% Nationally
share as of	2009 Ratings Year
share source	2009 ratings
terr serv 1	Analogue
terr chan 1	''Normally tuned to 10''
terr serv 2	SD Digital
terr chan 2	Channel 10
sat serv 1	Foxtel
sat chan 1	Channel 110
sat serv 2	Austar
sat chan 2	Channel 010
cable serv 1	Foxtel
cable chan 1	Channel 110
cable serv 2	Optus TV
cable chan 2	Channel 110 }}

Network Ten (commonly known as Channel Ten or simply Ten), is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country. Ten consistently rates third amongst all channels in Australia's five largest cities, behind the Seven Network and Nine Network.

History

Origins

From the introduction of TV in 1956 up until 1965 there were only two commercial television networks in Australia, the Nine Network and the Seven Network, and the public broadcaster the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. However, in the early 1960s, the federal government began canvassing the idea of licensing a third commercial television station in each city. This decision was seen by some as a way for the government to defuse growing public dissatisfaction with the dominance of imported overseas programming and the paucity of local content.

Structurally, the Australian television industry was closely modelled on the two-tiered system that had been in place in Australian radio since the late 1930s. One tier consisted of a network of publicly funded television stations run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which was funded by government budget allocation and (until 1972) by fees from television viewer licences. The second tier consisted of the commercial networks and independent stations owned by private operators, whose income came from selling advertising time.

Founded in 1965, the new television network was initially dubbed the "Independent Television System" or ITS, but in 1970 adopted the title ''The 0–10 Network'' which reflected the names of the first two stations in the group. In the early 1990s, Ten also referred to itself by the backronym "The Entertainment Network" in network promotions.

ATV-0 in Melbourne opened on 1 August 1964, and was owned by the Ansett transport and media group, which at the time owned one of Australia's two domestic airlines. TEN-10 in Sydney, which opened on 5 April 1965, was originally owned by United Telecasters Sydney Ltd (UTSL), who also in July that year opened TVQ-0 in Brisbane. Also opened that month was SAS-10, serving the city of Adelaide in South Australia.

1970s

Over the next few years more stations opened in other capitals and regional centres, and gradually these new stations affiliated with the 0–10 Network. But the Seven Network and the Nine Network were already well entrenched, and for its first five years the 0–10 Network led a hand-to-mouth existence. By the beginning of the 1970s the network was in a precarious financial position and there were predictions that it would fail.

The network's salvation came thanks to the adult soap opera serial ''Number 96'', which premiered in March 1972 on the very night "Australian TV lost its virginity". The series broke new ground for Australian television and captured the imagination of viewers like few programs before or since. For the next three years it was consistently Australia's top-rating television program and, not surprisingly, its huge popularity attracted advertisers to Ten ''en masse'', with the result that its revenue exploded from just A$1 million in 1971 to more than A$10 million in 1972.

However, the pattern of ratings dominance was already set, and since the mid-1960s there has been little deviation from the prevalent rankings, with the Nine Network typically in first place, the Seven Network second, Network Ten third and ABC TV fourth.

The gradual evolution of Network Ten into its current form has its origins in the ongoing attempts by media mogul Rupert Murdoch to acquire a prized commercial television licence in Australia's largest capital city market, Sydney. This began when Murdoch's News Ltd purchased the Wollongong station WIN Television in the early 1960s, around the same time he bought Festival Records. In 1977, frustrated by regulatory blocks that prevented him from expanding into the Sydney market, Murdoch sold WIN Television and purchased a 46% share in Ten Sydney.

In 1979, Murdoch made an unsuccessful takeover bid for the Melbourne-based Herald and Weekly Times media group. Although the bid failed, he gained a 50% stake in Ansett, which thus gave him control of Channel 0 in Melbourne. When Murdoch became an American citizen in 1985 so that he could expand his media empire in the United States, Australia's media ownership laws obliged him to dispose of the flagship television stations, which were sold to Northern Star, an offshoot of the Westfield Group conglomerate controlled by property tycoon Frank Lowy.

1980s

On 20 January 1980, the 0–10 Network became known as Network Ten to reflect ATV-0's transition to ATV-10 – although the Brisbane station continued to broadcast as TVQ-0 until 10 September 1988 the station changed to TVQ-10. On 27 December 1987, Adelaide's SAS-10 gave ADS-7 the affiliation rights of Network Ten, and became known as ADS-10.

Northern Star was badly hit by the stock market crash of 1987, having overcapitalised on the Network Ten acquisition, and in 1989 Westfield sold Network Ten to a consortium led by Charles Curran and former television journalist Steve Cosser.

1988 finally saw the launch of NEW-10 in Perth after the introduction of satellite facilities made it economical for the network to broadcast to Western Australia.

In 1989, Ten's ratings were in decline, so on 23 July 1989, recently recruited network boss Bob Shanks relaunched Network Ten as ''10 TV Australia'' and introduced several new programs, including four new prime time game shows. However, by the end of 1989 the ratings had failed to improve and most of the new programs were canceled, except for its Eyewitness News newscasts, Neighbours and E Street.

1990s

In 1990, both Network Ten and the Seven Network filed for receivership. In 1992, the network's flagship stations were sold to the Canadian-based CanWest media group, which held a controlling stake in the network until 2009. Ten also has an affiliate broadcasting agreement with Southern Cross Broadcasting, which owns numerous regional stations in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.

Ten broadcast the 1991 Winfield Cup premiership's grand final live.

Network Ten was nearly folded into the Seven Network in the early 1990s, but due to the lobbying power of billionaire Kerry Packer, former owner of the Nine Network, this was successfully resisted.

2000s

Network Ten enjoyed its best year since the 1970s in 2004, at one stage threatening to overtake Channel Seven as the second-runner to the long-leading Channel Nine. However ratings for Network Ten have been average, always finishing 3rd in every ratings year since 2000.

In 2005, it was revealed that Canwest was in discussions with newspaper publisher John Fairfax Holdings about a possible sale of the network, after the federal government had indicated it may consider relaxing Australia's media cross-ownership laws. Previously, newspaper owners could not own television stations in the same city. Fairfax owned the Seven Network until the mid 1980s, and has been looking for a way back into television for a long time.

On 21 August 2005, the network celebrated its 40th birthday with a two-hour highlights package called ''Ten: Seriously 40'' hosted by Bert Newton and Rove McManus.

From 2006-2008, Ten was the official broadcaster of Sydney New Year's Eve. The rights have since returned to the Nine Network from 2009.

Along with the Seven Network, Network Ten paid A$780 million for the rights to the Australian Football League. Some media commentators, however, believe the figure may have been overpriced given the fact that both Seven and Ten struggled to onsell games to Pay TV provider Foxtel. Ten eventually brokered a deal that saw Foxtel gain the rights to 4 live games each round, as well as replay rights for all games, shown on their Fox Sports One channel. Foxtel will pay an estimated A$50 million a year for these rights.

On 7 August 2007, Network Ten and Foxtel officially signed a new agreement allowing Ten's digital signal to be transmitted via Foxtel’s cable and satellite services. Prior to this, Network Ten was only transmitted via cable on Foxtel in an analogue format and Austar in Std Digital via Mystar. Similarly in October 2007, Network Ten and Optus announced that Ten's digital signal would be available on its cable network from 1 December 2007.

On 14 September 2007, Network Ten officially announced Ten HD, the first new commercial television channel in metropolitan areas of Australia since 1988. On 16 December 2007, Ten HD was officially launched with the high-definition movie, Black Hawk Down. Ten HD ceased broadcasting on 25 March 2009 to be replaced by a sports-only High Definition channel, One HD.

On 24 September 2009, Canwest announced that it was selling its 50.1% stake in Ten Network Holdings for A$680 million dollars, in order to pay down its significant debt. In late 2009, Canwest filed for creditor bankruptcy protection, due to C$4 billion mounting debt across radio, television broadcasting and publishing assets in several countries.

2010s

On 26 August 2010, Ten confirmed that it would be launching its third digital channel, entitled Eleven, 11 January 2011. The network indicated that Eleven would be aimed toward a "distinctly youthful" audience between the ages of 13 and 29, with programs such as ''Neighbours'' and ''The Simpsons'' migrating to the new channel. As part of its plans, Ten said that it was planning a joint venture with the international distributor CBS Studios International to provide content for the new channel.

Southern Cross Ten, a regional affiliate of the network, is upgrading its broadcast operations in preparation for the arrival of the new channel.

On 20 October 2010, four years after he sold shares in PBL Media to private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific, James Packer made a bid for Network TEN shares. He purchased 16 per cent of TEN through his traditional investment bank, UBS.

Ten began the new year in 2011 with the introduction of its third digital channel Eleven on 11 January with the ''Late Late Show'' at 11am.

On 7 April 2011, Network Ten announced it would relaunch its sports based channel One HD, with general entertainment programming taking over its schedule from 8 May. One is to incorporate more general entertainment aimed at males. It will pit the channel in a closer battle for viewers with 7mate.

Programming

Ten's current ''Australian'' programming lineup consists of television shows including: ''The Circle'', ''The 7PM Project'', ''Ready Steady Cook'', ''The Biggest Loser'', ''Bondi Rescue'', ''Before the Game'', ''Rush'', ''Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation'', ''Recruits'', ''MasterChef Australia'', ''Bondi Vet'', ''Totally Wild'', ''Toasted TV'', ''Video Hits'', ''Good News Week'', and ''Offspring''.

Network Ten relies heavily on its CBS and Fox output deals. Other overseas programming on Ten includes; ''House'', ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Law & Order'', ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''Law & Order: UK'', ''Medium'', ''Malcolm in the Middle'', ''NCIS'', ''NUMB3RS'', ''NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''Rules of Engagement'', ''One Tree Hill'', ''The Good Wife'', ''Cops'', ''Lie to Me'', ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', ''Burn Notice'', ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', ''Dr. Phil'', ''Judge Judy'', ''Glee'', ''White Collar'', ''Merlin'', ''Undercover Boss'', ''Modern Family'' and ''Hawaii Five-0''.

Network Ten currently broadcasts feature films from 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures as a result of their studio output deals.

The network also broadcasts catalogue titles from Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures produced prior to 2007 and Universal Pictures produced prior to 2008. The broadcast rights to more recent titles from Columbia/Sony and Universal now belong to the Nine Network and the Seven Network, respectively.

News & Current Affairs

Network Ten's news service is called ''Ten News''. It produces the following bulletins/programs; ''Ten Early News'', ''Ten Morning News'', ''Ten News at Five'' (Weeknights), ''6:30 with George Negus'', ''Ten Evening News'' (Weekends), ''The Bolt Report'', ''The 7PM Project'', ''Ten Late News'', ''Sports Tonight'', and ''Meet The Press''.

In November 2006, Network Ten struck a deal with CBS, reportedly worth A$6 million a year. This allows Network Ten the rights to air all CBS News footage, as well as access to its ''60 Minutes'', ''Dr. Phil'', ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and ''48 Hours'' programs. This deal occurred after CBS's talks with the Nine Network broke down, with Nine refusing to pay A$8 million a year to continue its 40-year deal with CBS. Ten in turn struck a cheaper deal, and has onsold CBS's 60 Minutes stories to Nine.

Sport

In 2001, Ten acquired partial broadcast rights for Saturday afternoon and Saturday night games in the Australian Football League, the elite Australian rules football competition, displacing the Seven Network which had held the rights for more than 40 years. The deal also assigned the exclusive rights for finals broadcasting to Network Ten. Ten subsequently placed a successful bid to jointly broadcast the game from 2007 to 2011, jointly with Seven.

Ten has continued to broadcast the Saturday component of the competition. However, unlike the previous deal Ten will not hold the exclusive rights to the finals series. Instead, the networks will share the broadcasting of the finals series and will alternate the broadcast of the grand final. In years when Ten does not televise the Grand Final (2008 and 2010), it will show the Brownlow Medal presentation.

Network Ten broadcast the AFL and the Rugby World Cup 2007 in the 1080i High Definition format. As of 2008, AFL matches have been shown in prime time in all capital cities except Sydney, which receives the telecast usually after 10:30pm unless the Sydney Swans are playing. Previously, all AFL matches were replayed into the Brisbane and Sydney markets, usually after 10:30pm unless the Brisbane Lions or Sydney Swans were playing. In 2007, all of the finals Network Ten were assigned to were shown live into both markets although neither the Lions or Swans were participating, thus putting it head to head with the NRL finals which were aired on the Nine Network. Before 2005, all finals were delayed into both markets unless their teams were playing.

Ten used to air the National Rugby League (NRL) (then New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) in the 1980s and early 1990s, but the Nine Network took over the rights.

Network Ten also used to air the National Basketball League (NBL) during the middle of the basketball boom in Australia in the mid-90s, but after delegating games to extremely late night time slots the network eventually ended its broadcasting. In March 2010 however, it was announced that Ten and One HD would show NBL games for the next 5 years. Starting with 2 games per week, and raising to 5 per week in the 2014/15 season. It was also revealed that they would show Boomers and Opals games.

Network Ten used to air WWF RAW, WWF Superstars and WWF Pay Per Views on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights between 1995 and 1999, but this ended when Foxtel bought the rights to air the shows. Originally WWF programming was aired on a week delay when broadcasting of the programming started in 1995. Until 1998, WWF Superstars was changed to a 6 month delay due to financial reasons with the exception of WWF RAW and WWF Pay per views.

In 2003, Network Ten started broadcasting the Formula One World Championship after Channel Nine dropped the rights in 2002 after more than twenty years of coverage. In 2007 they also started showing coverage of the qualification on tape delay early on Sunday mornings in most states. In 2008, Ten introduced live coverage of race day on its HD channel, Ten HD. All races from the 2008 French Grand Prix onwards have been shown live on what is now One HD. As a result, standard definition coverage has enjoyed less focus and now airs at a later time.

Network Ten broadcasts major sporting events including; the Formula 1, ''AFL Premiership Season and Finals (In conjunction with the Seven Network and Foxtel)'', ''Moto GP World Championship'', ''NASCAR'' (TEN HD from 2008), and the ''Red Bull Air Race World Series''. Ten also holds the rights to the ''2007 Rugby World Cup'' and the ''US Masters'' golf tournament.

As well as this, Network Ten, in joint partnership with subscription television provider Foxtel, had broadcast rights for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

First time realising the need to broadcast cricket in Australia to increase viewership, Network Ten bought the broadcast rights to the Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket, which started on 18 April 2008. The network will broadcast the event annually for the next 5 years although there is some doubt that the Australian contracted national players will be available for the tournament.

Ten's current Sports channel ONE HD, mainly AFL, netball & other sports.

Availability

Network Ten is simulcast in analogue, standard definition and formerly in 1080i high definition. Ten is broadcast in metropolitan areas via Network Ten owned-and-operated stations, these include TEN Sydney, ATV Melbourne, TVQ Brisbane, ADS Adelaide, and NEW Perth. Channel Ten programming is also carried into other areas of regional Australia by various affiliate networks and stations including Southern Cross Ten, Southern Cross Television, Tasmanian Digital Television, Mildura Digital Television, Darwin Digital Television, Ten West and WIN Television. In addition to this, Network Ten is retransmitted via Foxtel, Optus and Austar Digital cable and satellite pay television services.

Controversy

For the 2006 series of Big Brother Ten appointed two censors to review the show instead of one. Federal Minister for Communications Senator Helen Coonan is reported to say she would be keeping a "close watch on the show's 2006 series". This controversy resulted in ''Big Brother Uncut'' being renamed ''Big Brother: Adults Only'' for the 2006 season of ''Big Brother Australia''. In two separate findings, the Australian Communications and Media Authority determined Network Ten breached clause 2.4 of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice. These two breaches were in relation to the broadcast of Big Brother Uncut on 30 May, 13 June and 4 July 2005. The Broadcasting material was not classified according to the Television Classification Guidelines.

Despite toning down ''Big Brother: Adults Only'' significantly in comparison to 2005, the series continued to attract controversy. After ''Big Brother: Adults Only'' was abruptly cancelled several weeks early, a subsequent incident of alleged sexual assault in the house saw the removal of two housemates and a huge public outcry calling for the series to be cancelled entirely. This incident generated significant publicity for the show, even prompted the Prime Minister of Australia to call Network Ten to "do a bit of self-regulation and get this stupid program off the air.".

Just prior to the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Network Ten broadcast ''911: In Plane Site'', a documentary that examined conspiracy theories about the terrorist attacks. Federal Labor politician Michael Danby demanded that the programming director of the station be sacked.

Network Ten were highly criticised for their broadcast of the 2006 New Year's Eve celebrations, mostly for the sexual innuendo witnessed between high-profile musician John Foreman and Matthew Newton, TV personality Bert Newton's son. Many other complaints were received, particularly in regards to the use of explicit language and crude humour (including a "pashing contest"). This was the first year Ten broadcast the celebrations and fireworks, with Nine Network previously broadcasting the event since 1995.

On 8 October 2008, The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found Network Ten guilty of breaching the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice by using subliminal advertising during the broadcast of the 2007 ARIA Music Awards on 28 October 2007. Network Ten had inserted single frames (lasting 1/25th of a second) into the program broadcast. This was exposed on ABC's ''Media Watch'' program.

In recent months, The 7PM Project, arguably the network's highest rating show has been accused of liberal bias.

Logos

From 1964 to 1983-84, Network Ten's four stations had different logos to identify themselves, plus two official network-wide logos from 1965 to 1981. By 1984, ATV-10, SAS-10 and TEN-10 had the circle with the word TEN in capital letters, inspired by TVQ-0 Brisbane's 1983 TV0 logo, with the word TV inside a circle. By January 1988, these all changed to the X TEN logo, except in Perth's NEW-10, which was launched in May, and Brisbane, which adopted the logo in September when TVQ changed channels from 0 to 10, all in the same year. The following year, it was changed into the 10 TV Australia logo, and by 1991 into the TEN logo of today.

References

External links

Corporate Site

Official YouTube channel

Category:Australian television networks Category:Television channels and stations established in 1964

de:Network Ten es:Network Ten fr:Network Ten id:Network Ten it:Network Ten nl:Network Ten ja:Network Ten pt:Network Ten ru:Network Ten simple:Network Ten

David Sharpe (born July 8, 1967) is a former British middle distance runner who won a silver medal at the European Championships in Split 1990 over 800 m. In 1988 he won the European Indoor Championships and in 1992 he came first in the 800 m race at the World Cup in Havana. In 1992 Sharpe won the B-race in Zurich in a personal best of 1:43.98 min.

Achievements

{| |- !colspan="6"|Representing |- |1986 |World Junior Championships |Athens, Greece |bgcolor="gold" | 1st |800 m |1:48.32 |}

References

Category:British middle distance runners Category:1967 births Category:Living people

Name	David Fincher
Birth name	David Andrew Leo Fincher
Birth date	August 28, 1962
Birth place	Denver, Colorado, US
Death date
Other names	Dave Fincher, Davey, Finch,
Occupation	Film director, film producer, music video director
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	Donya Fiorentino(1990–95)
Website	}}

David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as ''Seven'' (1995), ''The Game'' (1997), ''Fight Club'' (1999), ''Panic Room'' (2002), and ''Zodiac'' (2007), Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' and his 2010 film ''The Social Network'', which also won him the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Best Director. His next film will be 2011's ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'', an English-language adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel of the same name.

Early life and career

Fincher was born on August 28, 1962 in Denver, Colorado, the son of Claire Mae (née Boettcher), a mental health nurse who worked in drug addiction programs, and Howard Kelly Fincher, who worked as a bureau chief for ''Life'' under the name Jack Fincher. When Fincher was two years old, the family moved to San Anselmo in Marin County, California. Fincher moved to Ashland, Oregon in his teens, where he graduated from Ashland High School. Inspired by ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'', Fincher began making movies at age eight with an 8 mm camera. Fincher eschewed the film school route, getting a job loading cameras and doing other hands-on work for John Korty’s Korty Films. He was later hired by Industrial Light & Magic in 1983, where he worked on productions for ''Twice Upon a Time'', ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'', and ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom''. In 1984, he left ILM to direct a commercial for the American Cancer Society, that would show a fetus smoking a cigarette. This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles and he was given the chance to direct the documentary ''The Beat of the Live Drum'' featuring Rick Springfield in 1985. Though he would continue to direct spots for companies like Revlon, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Sony, and Levi's, Fincher soon discovered music videos and went on to direct many promos.

Propaganda Films

Set on a directing career, Fincher joined video-production company Propaganda Films and started off directing music videos and commercials. Like Fincher, other directors such as Michael Bay, Samuel Bayer, Meiert Avis, David Kellogg, Antoine Fuqua, Neil LaBute, Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek, Michel Gondry, Paul Rachman, Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, and Alex Proyas honed their talents at Propaganda Films before moving on to feature films.

Music videos

Fincher directed big budget music videos for artists such as Madonna (including "Express Yourself", "Vogue", "Oh Father" and "Bad Girl"), Billy Idol ("Cradle of Love"), Paula Abdul (including "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me", "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl" and "Cold Hearted"), Aerosmith ("Janie's Got a Gun"), The Rolling Stones (including "Love Is Strong"), Nine Inch Nails ("Only"), A Perfect Circle ("Judith"), Jody Watley (including "Real Love" and "Most of All"), Rick Springfield, Steve Winwood, Neneh Cherry ("Heart"), George Michael ("Freedom '90"), The Motels "Shame", Michael Jackson ("Who Is It"), The Wallflowers, Wire Train and The Outfield, including "All the Love (in the World)", "Every Time You Cry" and "No Surrender".

Features

''Alien 3''

After directing several music videos, Fincher's feature debut was ''Alien 3'' (1992). While it received an Oscar nomination for special effects, the film was not well received by critics or moviegoers. Fincher became involved with several disputes with 20th Century Fox over script and budget issues. In "The Director’s Cut", he blames the producers for not putting the necessary trust in him. After this, Fincher retreated back into the world of commercial and music video directing, including the video for the Grammy Award winning track "Love Is Strong" (1994) by The Rolling Stones.

''Seven''

In 1995, Fincher directed ''Seven''. The film, based on a screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walker, told the story of two detectives (played in the movie by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) tracking down a serial killer who bases his killings on the seven deadly sins. The film grossed more than $100 million domestically (over $300 million internationally). The chairman of New Line Cinema, Arnold Kopelson, originally refused to allow filming of the shocking climactic scene. With the aid of Brad Pitt, who stated that he would not be involved with the picture if its ending were changed, Fincher was allowed to film the original scene and use it in the final cut.

''The Game''

After the success of ''Seven'', Fincher went on to film ''The Game'' (1997). The story focused on a closed-off San Francisco businessman (played by Michael Douglas) who receives an unusual gift from his younger brother (Sean Penn), in which he becomes the main player of a role-playing game that takes over his life. The film had middling box-office returns despite being well-received by critics.

''Fight Club''

''Fight Club'' was a screen adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel of the same name about an insomniac office worker who opens up a club devoted exclusively to bare knuckle fighting for men. Featuring Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter, and ''Seven'' collaborator Brad Pitt, the 1999 film was an early disappointment at the box-office and received mixed reviews. ''Fight Club'' was panned by several critics and alienated audiences leading to its box office failure in the United States.

However, many critics and audiences later changed their perceptions and the film appeared on many 'best of the year' lists and soon developed a following. ''Entertainment Weekly'', which had originally given the film a D-, later ranked the DVD #1 on its list of 50 Essential DVDs. Exceptional sales have since established it as a cult film.

In 2006 the British magazine ''Total Film'' voted ''Fight Club'' number four in the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, beaten only by ''Jaws'', ''Vertigo'' and ''Goodfellas'' at 3, 2 and 1 respectively.

''Panic Room''

In 2002, Fincher followed up with the thriller ''Panic Room''. The film earned over $92 million at the U.S. box office. The story follows a single mother (Jodie Foster) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) as they hide in a safe room of their new house, away from criminals (Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and ''Fight Club'' collaborator Jared Leto) bent on finding a missing fortune. Fincher acknowledged ''Panic Room'' as a more mainstream thriller, describing the film, on the DVD's audio commentary, as "[basically] a date movie" and a "really good B movie" about "two people trapped in a closet".

''Zodiac''

Five years after ''Panic Room'', Fincher returned on March 2, 2007 with ''Zodiac'', an adaptation of Robert Graysmith’s books about the hunt for the Zodiac Killer that starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey, Jr., Anthony Edwards, and Brian Cox. The first of Fincher’s films to be shot digitally, the majority of the film was recorded on a Thompson Viper Film Stream Camera. However, high-speed film cameras were used for the Blue Rock Springs and Presidio Heights murder scenes for the slow-motion shots. It was originally to be released in the fall of 2006 but was pushed back after Fincher refused to cut 20 minutes off the film.

''Zodiac'' was one of the best-reviewed films of that year, with only two other 2007 films appearing on more top-10 lists (''No Country for Old Men'' and ''There Will Be Blood''). However, the film struggled at the box office in the U.S., earning only $33 million, but did well overseas with a foreign gross of $51.7 million. Worldwide, ''Zodiac'' was a decent success. Despite an aggressive campaign by the studio, expectations surrounding Robert Downey, Jr.’s supporting performance, Fincher’s direction and Vanderbilt’s adapted script, the film did not earn a single Academy Award nomination.

''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''

A story about life and death, ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story of the same name. The film was Fincher’s third with Brad Pitt. The film started shooting in November 2006 in New Orleans, before moving on to the Virgin Islands, Montreal, and L.A.. Both ''Zodiac'' and this film are co-productions of Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.. The budget for the film was estimated at $150 million, partly due to the CGI effects used to reverse the aging in Brad Pitt’s character. The film is the first PG-13 film directed by Fincher. It received 13 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards, including Fincher's first nomination for Best Director.

''The Social Network''

Fincher directed the 2010 film ''The Social Network'', about the legal battles of Mark Zuckerberg and the founding of Facebook. The film features an Oscar-winning screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, adapted from the book ''The Accidental Billionaires''. Featuring a young cast ensemble, the film is produced by Scott Rudin, Kevin Spacey and Michael DeLuca. Filming started in October 2009 and was released a year later, to critical acclaim. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross created the Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film, Fincher had long been a fan of Reznor's work in Nine Inch Nails, even putting a remix of "Closer" in the beginning of ''Seven'' and directing the music video for "Only". The film went on to win many awards, including four Golden Globes (including Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Director), three BAFTAs (including Best Direction), and three Academy Awards.

''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo''

Fincher has begun filming of the American version of ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'', which is based on the book by Stieg Larsson, with a script written by Steven Zaillian. The film is being shot in Sweden with Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, Robin Wright as Erika Berger, Stellan Skarsgård as Martin Vanger, and Christopher Plummer as Henrik Vanger. The film is expected to be released on December 21, 2011. Along with ''Dragon Tattoo'', Fincher and Zaillian have signed a two picture deal to also adapt ''The Girl Who Played with Fire'', and ''The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest'', which will be shot back to back if ''Dragon Tattoo'' is successful. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are currently creating the soundtrack for the film (their second collaboration with Fincher).

Future projects

''The Killer''

On November 1, 2007, ''Variety'' reported that Fincher was attached to do an adaptation of a French graphic novel called ''The Killer'' by Alexis Nolent, which was optioned by Paramount Pictures and Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, with Pitt attached to star in the film. Scripted by Allesandro Camon, the film is about a top assassin, with his conscience getting the better of him, and a cop on his tail.

''The Reincarnation of Peter Proud''

An announcement was made on November 9, 2009 that Andrew Kevin Walker and David Fincher will re-team for the remake of the 1975 film ''The Reincarnation of Peter Proud''. This marks the fifth time Andrew Kevin Walker and Fincher will work together. Walker wrote Fincher's 1995 thriller ''Seven'', did uncredited rewrites for ''Fight Club'' and ''The Game'' and made a cameo appearance in ''Panic Room''.

''Ness''

On September 5, 2008, Firstshowing.net reported that Matt Damon is in talks to play Eliot Ness in ''Ness'' with Fincher lined up to direct an adaptation of the graphic novel ''Torso'' by Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, and that the producers were looking for locations in Cleveland, Ohio.

''Heavy Metal''

''Variety'' reported that Paramount Pictures will make another animated film with David Fincher, based on the ''Heavy Metal'' comics. Fincher is set to direct one of the film’s eight or nine segments, which will also feature other directors such as animator Tim Miller and magazine owner and publisher Kevin Eastman directing another. The film is envisioned as being an animated, adult-themed R-rated film. On July 14, 2008 Paramount Pictures announced the movie is put on hold. On September 4, 2008, it was announced the film was to be made by Columbia Pictures, and a few of the directors attached to make a segment each includes Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski and Guillermo del Toro, as well as James Cameron.

''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea''

Fincher is currently attached to direct ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' for Walt Disney Pictures, based on the Jules Verne novel of the same name.

''Rendezvous with Rama''

Fincher has been attempting to make a film based on the science fiction novel of the same name written by Arthur C. Clarke with Morgan Freeman cast in the lead. In 2008, Fincher announced he was no longer making the film due to Freeman's health, but Freeman said in late 2010 that Fincher is "still part of the conversation."

''House of Cards''

Fincher has agreed to direct the first Netflix original television series, starring Kevin Spacey. The show will be called House of Cards and will air in late 2012.

Collaborators

Acting

Fincher often casts certain actors more than once in his films. Fincher has consistently worked with Richmond Arquette, Bob Stephenson, Christopher John Fields, Brad Pitt and Joel Bissonnette.

! Actor	! class="collapsible" >''Alien 3'' (1992)	! class="collapsible"	! class="collapsible"	! class="collapsible"	! ''Panic Room'' (2002)	! ''Zodiac (film)>Zodiac'' (2007)	! ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)>The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008)	! ''The Social Network'' (2010)	! ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (2011)
! Richmond Arquette	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Joel Bissonnette	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! John Cassini	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Christopher John Fields	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Rachel Flanagan	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Duffy Gaver	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! John Getz	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Zach Grenier	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Mark Boone Junior	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Elias Koteas	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Jared Leto	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Barry Livingston	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! George Maguire	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Rooney Mara	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Michael Massee	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Owen Masterson	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Angelina McCoy	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Holt McCallany	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Evan Mirand	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Brad Pitt	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Paul Schulze	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! David Lee Smith	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
Bob Stephenson (actor)>Bob Stephenson	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Matt Winston	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>

Other

Fincher also frequently works with the same crew across many films, notably Jeff Cronenweth, cinematographer, Ren Klyce, sound designer, and more recently Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers.

! Collaborator, Role	! class="collapsible" >''Alien 3'' (1992)	! class="collapsible"	! class="collapsible"	! class="collapsible"	! ''Panic Room'' (2002)	! ''Zodiac (film)>Zodiac'' (2007)	! ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)>The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008)	! ''The Social Network'' (2010)	! ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film)>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (2011)
! Kirk Baxter, Editor	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Donald Graham Burt, Production Designer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Jeff Cronenweth, Cinematographer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! James Haygood, Editor	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Darius Khondji, Cinematographer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Ren Klyce, Sound Designer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Laray Mayfield, Casting Director	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Trent Reznor, Composer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Atticus Ross, Composer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Scott Rudin, Producer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Harris Savides, Cinematographer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Howard Shore, Composer	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
! Andrew Kevin Walker, Screenwriter	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>
!Angus Wall, Editor	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>	>

Filmography

Theatrical films

''Alien 3'' (1992)

''Seven'' (1995)

''The Game'' (1997)

''Fight Club'' (1999)

''Panic Room'' (2002)

''Zodiac'' (2007)

''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' (2008)

''The Social Network'' (2010)

''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'' (2011)

Music videos

"Dance This World Away", Rick Springfield (1984)

"Celebrate Youth", Rick Springfield (1984)

"Bop Til You Drop", Rick Springfield (1984)

"Shame", The Motels (1985)

"Shock", The Motels (1985)

"Celebrate Youth", Rick Springfield (1985)

"All The Love", The Outfield (1986)

"Every Time You Cry", The Outfield (1986)

"One Simple Thing", Stabilizers (1986)

"She Comes On", Wire Train (1987)

"Should She Cry", Wire Train (1987)

"Endless Nights", Eddie Money (1987)

"Downtown Train", Patty Smyth (1987)

"I Don't Mind At All", Bourgeois Tagg (1987)

"Notorious", Loverboy (1987)

"Love Will Rise Again", Loverboy (1987)

"Johnny B", The Hooters (1987)

"Storybook Story", Mark Knopfler (1987)

"Can I Hold You", Colin Hay (1987)

"No Surrender", The Outfield (1987)

"Say You Will", Foreigner (1987)

"Don't Tell Me The Time", The Motels (1987)

"Tell It To the Moon", The Motels (1988)

"Heart of Gold", Johnny Hates Jazz (1988)

"Englishman in New York", Sting (1988)

"Shattered Dreams" (second version),Johnny Hates Jazz (1988)

"Get Rhythm", Ry Cooder (1988)

"Most of All", Jody Watley (1988)

"Roll With It", Steve Winwood (1988)

"(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" (version 1988), Paula Abdul (1988)

"Holding On", Steve Winwood (1988)

"Heart", Neneh Cherry (1989)

"Bamboleo" (second version), Gypsy Kings (1989)

"Straight Up", Paula Abdul (1989)

"Most Of All", Jody Watley (1989)

"Real Love", Jody Watley (1989)

"Bamboleo" (third version), Gypsy Kings (1989)

"She's a Mystery to Me", Roy Orbison (1989)

"Forever Your Girl", Paula Abdul (1989)

"Express Yourself", Madonna (1989)

"The End of the Innocence", Don Henley (1989)

"Cold Hearted", Paula Abdul (1989)

"(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" (version 1989), Paula Abdul (1988)

"Oh Father", Madonna (1989)

"Janie's Got a Gun", Aerosmith (1989)

"Vogue", Madonna (1990)

"Cradle of Love", Billy Idol (1990)

"L.A. Woman", Billy Idol (1990)

"Freedom '90", George Michael (1990)

"Bad Girl", Madonna (1993)

"Who Is It?", Michael Jackson (1993)

"Love Is Strong", The Rolling Stones (1994)

"6th Avenue Heartache", The Wallflowers (1996)

"Judith", A Perfect Circle (2000)

"Only", Nine Inch Nails (2005)

Reception

Critical reception

85% 80% 81% 76% 89% 72% 97%

rowspan="2"	Film	Rotten Tomatoes		Metacritic
! Overall	! Top Critics
''Alien 3''	38%	N/A
''Seven (film)	Seven''	|	65%	65
''The Game (film)	The Game''	|	71%	61
''Fight Club (film)	Fight Club''	|	63%	66
''Panic Room''	|	71%	65
''Zodiac (film)	Zodiac''	|	81%	78
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''	|	76%	70
''The Social Network''	|	100%	95
! Average !! 77.5% !! 75% !! 72

Box office

Film	Release date	Revenue	Budget	Reference
United States	Outside United States	Worldwide
''Alien 3''		$55,473,545	$104,340,953	$159,814,498		$50 million
''Seven''		$100,125,643	$227,186,216	$327,311,859	$33 million
''The Game''		$48,323,648	$61,100,000	$109,423,648	$50 million
''Fight Club''		$37,030,102	$63,823,651	$100,853,753	$63 million
''Panic Room''		$96,397,334	$100,000,081	$196,397,415	$48 million
''Zodiac''		$33,080,084	$51,705,830	$84,785,914	$65 million
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button''		$127,509,326	$206,422,757	$333,932,083	$150 million
''The Social Network''		$94,342,092	$105,549,651	$208,988,743	$40 million
	$592,281,774	$920,129,139	$1,512,410,913	$509 million

Further reading

.

References

External links

David Fincher Blog at fincherfanatic.blogspot.com

Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

Music Videos & Commercials at anonymous content

Fashion Meets Film: Director Edition - David Fincher

;Interviews

David Fincher interview with Paul Guyot of www.dvdtalk.com

David Fincher interview with Michael Moses of www.drdrew.com

David Fincher interview with Gavin Smith of edward-norton.org

''Esquire'' magazine interview with Fincher

IndieLondon interview with Fincher

David Fincher Didn't Want To Make 'Another Serial-Killer Movie' ... Until ''Zodiac'' Came Along – Part 1 interview with MTV

David Fincher Discusses Reunion With Brad Pitt, Possible ''Fight Club'' Musical – Part 2 interview with MTV

CHUD: Exclusive Interview: David Fincher

Movieweb: David Fincher Talks Zodiac: Director's Cut

LA Weekly – David Fincher discusses Zodiac's rising star

|- ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | National Board of Review |- ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | National Board of Review |-

Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American film directors Category:American music video directors Category:People from Ashland, Oregon Category:People from Denver, Colorado Category:1962 births Category:Living people

ar:ديفيد فينشر bs:David Fincher br:David Fincher bg:Дейвид Финчър ca:David Fincher cs:David Fincher cy:David Fincher da:David Fincher de:David Fincher el:Ντέιβιντ Φίντσερ es:David Fincher fa:دیوید فینچر fr:David Fincher ko:데이비드 핀처 id:David Fincher it:David Fincher he:דייוויד פינצ'ר lv:Deivids Finčers hu:David Fincher nl:David Fincher ja:デヴィッド・フィンチャー no:David Fincher pl:David Fincher pt:David Fincher ro:David Fincher ru:Финчер, Дэвид sq:David Fincher sk:David Fincher sl:David Fincher sr:Дејвид Финчер fi:David Fincher sv:David Fincher th:เดวิด ฟินเชอร์ tr:David Fincher uk:Девід Фінчер zh:大卫·芬奇

Position	Running back
Number	34
Birth date	July 25, 1954, Columbia, Mississippi, U.S.
Death date	November 01, 1999, South Barrington, Illinois, U.S.
Debutyear	1975
Debutteam	Chicago Bears
Finalyear	1987
Finalteam	Chicago Bears
Draftyear	1975
Draftround	1
Draftpick	4
College	Jackson State
Teams	Chicago Bears (–)
Highlights	Rated #5 NFL Player of all-time by NFL.com 9× Pro Bowl selection (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986) 6× First-team All-Pro selection (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985) 3× Second-team All-Pro (1976, 1983, 1986) 1977 NFL MVP 1977 PFWA NFL MVP 1977 NEA NFL MVP 1985 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1977 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1978 Pro Bowl MVP Super Bowl XX Champion NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team Chicago Bears #34 retired
Stat1label	Rushing Yards
Stat1value	16,726
Stat2label	Average
Stat2value	4.4
Stat3label	Touchdowns
Stat3value	110
Nfl	PAY738296
Hof	174
Hofyear	1993
Collegehof	70028 }}

Walter Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was born in Columbia, Mississippi. He was an American football player who spent his entire professional career with the National Football League's Chicago Bears. Walter Payton was known around the NFL as "Sweetness". He is remembered as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of American football. Payton, a nine-time Pro Bowl selectee, once held the league's record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards, and many other categories. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. Hall of Fame NFL player and coach Mike Ditka described Payton as the greatest football player he had ever seen—but even greater as a human being.

Payton began his football career in Mississippi, and went on to have an outstanding collegiate football career at Jackson State University where he was an All-American. He started his professional career with the Bears in 1975, who selected him as the 1975 Draft's fourth overall pick. Payton proceeded to win two NFL Most Valuable Player Awards, and won Super Bowl XX with the 1985 Chicago Bears. After struggling with the rare liver disease primary sclerosing cholangitis for several months, Payton died on November 1, 1999, aged 45, from cholangiocarcinoma. His legacy includes the Walter Payton Award, the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, and a heightened awareness of the need for organ donations.

Early life

Payton was one of three children born to Edward and Alyne Payton in Columbia, Mississippi. His father was a factory worker who had played semi-professional baseball. Payton was an active member of the Boy Scouts, Little League, and his local church. At John J. Jefferson High School, Payton played drums in the marching band, participated in the track team and sang in the school choir. Outside of school, he played drums in jazz-rock groups.

During his first few years at high school, his older brother Eddie was on the football team, and Payton did not play partly to avoid competing with him. After Eddie graduated, the football coach asked Payton to try out for the team, and he agreed on condition that he be allowed to continue playing in the band. Once he began to play football, as a junior, he achieved instant success as a running back. At , he was not especially large, but his speed and strength made him one of the team's featured players. Jefferson High School was integrated with neighboring Columbia High School that year; Payton and his teammates were upset that their head coach, Charles L. Boston, had become an assistant and Payton boycotted some of the spring practices in protest, but returned during the fall season. He then earned state-wide honors as a member of Mississippi's all-state team, leading Columbia to an unexpected 8-2 season. His performance helped ease the local tensions surrounding desegregation.

College career

Although Payton had established himself as one of the state’s top running back prospects, he received no invitations from Southeastern Conference colleges and universities, which were accepting only a few black players at the time. He decided to pursue his collegiate career at the historically African-American, Jackson State University, where his older brother Eddie had played football (declining a scholarship offer from the University of Kansas, where fellow Chicago Bears running back legend Gale Sayers had played).

While attending Jackson State, Payton played alongside many future professional football players, including Jerome Barkum, Robert Brazile, and Jackie Slater. As a member of the Jackson State Tigers, Payton rushed for more than 3,500 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Also, he broke the NCAA's scoring record by rushing for 65 touchdowns during his college career. In 1973, Payton was selected for the All-American Team. The following year he was named Black College Player of the Year. Payton graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor's degree in Communications.

He acquired the nickname "Sweetness" in college. The nickname's origin is ambiguous: it is variously said to have stemmed from his personality, from his athletic grace, or as an ironic description of his aggressive playing style. In 1996, Payton was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. On January 18, 2010, it was announced that Payton would be one of eleven members of the inaugural class inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame on February 20, 2010.

Professional career

1975–1982

The Chicago Bears drafted Payton in the first round of the 1975 NFL Draft, as the fourth overall pick. The Bears had endured several losing seasons after the retirement of the iconic Gale Sayers in 1972. Payton's first game was not particularly successful; he was held to zero net rushing yards on eight attempts. His best performance of the season was the final game against the New Orleans Saints, where he rushed for 134 yards on 20 carries. Payton finished the season with only 679 yards and seven touchdowns.

Payton was eager to improve his performance. During the 1976 NFL season, Payton rushed for more than 1,000 yards and scored 17 touchdowns. After the season, he was selected to play in the 1977 Pro Bowl, where he was declared the Pro Bowl MVP. The next year, he rushed for 1,852 yards and scored 16 touchdowns, becoming the league’s leading scorer for the season. He earned numerous awards that season, including the Associated Press and Pro Football Writers of America's Most Valuable Player awards. A memorable game of the 1977 NFL season was against the Minnesota Vikings on November 20. He rushed for a then-record 275 yards, breaking the previous record of 273 yards held by O.J. Simpson. By the end of the decade, Payton had received additional accolades for his exploits as a blocker, receiver, emergency punter, and quarterback.

In that record-setting game against the Vikings, Payton was suffering with a 101-degree fever and intense flu. He played through his illness, rushing for 275 yards on 40 attempts, with 1 touchdown. His longest run was for 58 yards, and he caught one pass for 6 yards. He broke O.J. Simpson's single-game rushing record of 273 yards. His record stood for 23 years until Corey Dillon of the Cincinnati Bengals ran for 278 yards against the Denver Broncos in 2000. Since Dillon, three other players have beaten his record. Adrian Peterson holds the current single-game rushing record of 296 yards against the San Diego Chargers.

1983–1986

The Bears struggled to assemble consecutive winning seasons, landing only two playoff berths since his arrival. The lack of success prompted the Bears' management to replace Neill Armstrong with Mike Ditka for the season that began in the Fall of 1982. Ditka, a tight end during the 1960s and 1970s who would also join the Pro Football Hall of Fame, led the Bears to a 3–6 (strike-shortened) record in 1982. He led the Bears to an 8–8 finish in 1983 and to a 10–6 finish in 1984. Payton continued his success by rushing for more than 1,400 yards in both seasons. On October 7, 1984, Payton broke Jim Brown's career rushing record of 12,312 yards. In 1985, Payton rushed for more than 1,500 yards, helping the Bears establish the league's second-best offense. The Bears' 46 defense of that season would go on to become one of the best in NFL history, setting a record for fewest points allowed.

Payton performed with his teammates in the widely released 1985 music video ''The Super Bowl Shuffle''. The Bears went on to a 15–1 record that culminated in a 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX. Although Payton's offensive prowess had assisted the Bears throughout the 1985 season, the New England Patriots prevented him from reaching the end zone. According to quarterback Jim McMahon, he was targeted by two or three defensive Patriots during each play. In a later interview, Ditka stated that Payton's lack of a touchdown in this game was one of his major regrets.

1986−1987

Payton, who was a twelve-year veteran, amassed 1,333 yards in the 1986 NFL season. The Bears won the NFC Central Division, but lost to the Washington Redskins 27–13 in the divisional round. At the end of the 1986 season, he announced that he would retire after completing the 1987 NFL season. During his last season with the Bears, Payton split carries with his successor, Neal Anderson, and rushed for only 533 yards. Payton's career ended with another loss to the Washington Redskins in the divisional round of the playoffs by the score of 21–17 on January 10, 1988. Over his entire career, Payton rushed for 16,726 yards, which broke the record for most rushing yards by any NFL player in history, and scored 110 touchdowns. He became the first African American to break a record that was held only by whites in the NFL during modern football (1955–present). He caught 492 passes for 4,538 yards and 15 touchdowns. Payton set several team records, including most career rushing yards, receptions, and touchdowns. His jersey number was retired by the Bears, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. The only game he missed in his 13-year career was in his rookie season of 1975. His ankle was injured, and an assistant coach held him out of play; the miss rankled Payton for years afterwards.

Playing style

Payton's motto was "Never Die Easy", which is also the title of his posthumously published autobiography. Payton attributed this motto to Bob Hill, his coach at Jackson State. In practice, this meant that Payton refused to deliberately run out-of-bounds, and always delivered some punishment to his tacklers before being forced off the field or forced down.

One of Payton's signature maneuvers was the "stutter-step", a high-stepping, irregularly paced run. He developed this as a way to distract his pursuers during long runs, saying that it startled them into thinking and gave him some advantage over players who were actually faster runners. In his autobiography, he likened the stutter step to a kind of "option play": when he was stutter-stepping, defenders would have to commit to a pursuit angle based upon whether they thought he would accelerate after the stutter-step, or cut — he would read this angle and do the opposite of what the defender had committed to.

He re-invented the practice of stiff-arming his tacklers, which had gone out of favor among running backs in the 1970s. At times, he used his high school experience as a long jumper to leap over his opponents, landing on his head in the end zone to gain a touchdown in a game against the Buffalo Bills. His running gait was somewhat unusual, as his knees were minimally bent, and the motion was largely powered from the hip. This may have given his knees, a football player's most vulnerable joints, some protection, although he underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees in 1983. He referred to this procedure as an 11,000-yard checkup.

After scoring touchdowns, Payton declined to celebrate; instead, he would often hand the ball to his teammates or the official. He disapproved of the growing practice of touchdown celebrations; he preferred post-game antics such as rushing into the locker room and locking his fellow teammates out in the cold while taking a long shower. Although Payton would have won the respect of his peers and coaches by his running alone, he made 492 receptions and over 4,000 yards over his career and was a consistent threat in the passing game.

Personal life

Payton married Connie Norwood in 1976. During his rookie years he resided in a home on the north side of Arlington Heights, Illinois. The couple had two children, Jarrett Payton (born 1980) and Brittney (born December 26, 1985) and resided in South Barrington, Illinois.

Investments

In 1995, Walter, along with many other investors, sought to bring an NFL expansion team to St. Louis, Missouri. Although the NFL strongly favored a franchise in St. Louis, their efforts were thwarted because of internal dissension among the investment group members leading the NFL to award franchises to investment groups in Jacksonville, Florida (Jacksonville Jaguars) and Charlotte, North Carolina (Carolina Panthers).

Payton pursued various business ventures in retirement, including becoming co-owner of Dale Coyne Racing in the CART IndyCar World Series. He also drove in several Trans-Am Series events, including a 1993 race at Road America in which his car overturned and caught fire. He suffered burns but escaped serious injury.

In 1995, he and several partners purchased a Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad roundhouse in Aurora, Illinois. The property became known as "Walter Payton's Roundhouse", hosting a restaurant, brewery, banquet and meeting facility, and museum. In 1999 the property received an award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The beers brewed at the Roundhouse received awards in the 2000s. Payton appeared on a 1987 episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' (co-hosting with fellow football player Joe Montana).

Illness and death

In February 1999, Payton announced that he had a rare autoimmune liver disease known as primary sclerosing cholangitis, which may have led to his cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). He spent his final months as an advocate for organ transplants, appearing in many commercials to encourage others to donate organs, although by the time his first appeal was recorded, his illness was already too far advanced for transplantation to have been a viable option. In April of that year, Payton made a final public appearance at a Chicago Cubs game with Mike Ditka, where he threw the game's ceremonial first pitch. Author Don Yaeger worked with him during the last weeks of his life to create his autobiography, ''Never Die Easy''.

On November 1, 1999, Payton died from the complications that arose from his illness. He was 45 years old. During the same week, the NFL held special ceremonies in each game to commemorate his career and legacy. In addition, the Chicago Bears wore special #34 patches on their jerseys to honor Payton. His body was cremated after his death.

Speakers at Payton's public funeral service, held in Soldier Field, included Jesse Jackson; former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue; former teammate Dan Hampton; his widow Connie Payton; and his children, Jarrett and Brittney. Among the 1,000 mourners at the private service were John Madden; Illinois Governor George Ryan; Chicago's mayor Richard M. Daley; former teammates Matt Suhey, Mike Singletary, Roland Harper, and Jim McMahon; the Bears' equipment manager and building superintendent; and many other people representing a wide social, political, and economic spectrum.

Legacy

Payton's legacy continues through the charitable Walter and Connie Payton Foundation. His own appeals—and after his death, his foundation's—for greater awareness of the need for organ donations are widely credited with bringing national attention to the problem. After his appeals, donations in Illinois skyrocketed, and the regional organ bank of Illinois was overwhelmed with calls. In response, the City of Chicago inserted organ donation requests into city-vehicle-registration mailings in early 2000, and, by August 2000, 13,000 people had signed on to the program. The foundation continues to run a program that Payton organized to donate toys to underprivileged children across the Chicago area each Christmas. The family established the Walter Payton Cancer Fund in 2002.

Many modern NFL running backs have cited Payton as a source of inspiration. Emmitt Smith tearfully paid homage to Payton after breaking Payton’s rushing record. LaDainian Tomlinson, who set numerous records during the 2006 NFL season, named Payton as one of his foremost mentors and inspirations. Ahman Green, a player for the Bears' rival Green Bay Packers, is said to have idolized Payton, viewing the highlight film "Pure Payton" before each game. Walter's son, Jarrett Payton, was a running back for the Tennessee Titans, NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals and CFL's Montreal Alouettes. During his tenure at the University of Miami, Jarrett wore a #34 jersey to honor his father's memory. In 1999 he was ranked #8 in the Sporting News 100 greatest NFL players of all time.

The city of Chicago has honored Payton’s memory in several ways. In 1999, the city created a special city sticker that featured Payton. The profits from the sales of these stickers along with the special license plate created by the State of Illinois are given to support organ-donor programs across Illinois. Also, the city named a high school, Walter Payton College Prep, in his honor. In September 2007, the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center opened the Walter Payton Liver Center. Chicago Metra commuters have long been witness to a simple "#34 Sweetness", painted on a bridge piling of the Air Line on the south end of the Chicago Union Station yards.

His Walter Payton's Roundhouse continues to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the Aurora, Illinois site. There are two athletic awards named after Payton. The NCAA gives the "Walter Payton Award" to the best offensive player from a Division I FCS (still often known by its former designation of Division I-AA) football team. The NFL hands out the "Walter Payton Man of the Year" award for player achievements in community service during a particular season.

The Chicago Bears honored Payton's career and life on November 1, 2009 by airing a special tribute video during halftime. The video consisted of highlight clips from Payton's career and interview segments from Mike Ditka, Virginia McCaskey, Richard Dent, and many other members of the Bears organization. Payton's wife, daughter, son, and mother were present to watch the video, which aired on Soldier Field's Jumbotron.

After Payton's death, Nickol Knoll Hill, an old landfill site turned into a golf course in Arlington Heights, Illinois, was renamed "Payton's Hill". There are two plaques on the hill to remind visitors of the hill that it was where Payton used to train in 1970s/80s. Payon did his morning run at the hill everyday. Pictures and memorabilia of Payton cover the walls of the golf course club house.

Career statistics

Payton was the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards and all-purpose yards prior to the 2002 NFL season, when Emmitt Smith broke his record. He also held the single game rushing record until the 2000 NFL season, when it was broken by Corey Dillon. Payton led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns in the 1977 NFL season. Also, he was among the top-ten players for rushing attempts during his entire career, including 1976, 1977, and 1978, leading the category in 1979. As of 2006, he was the NFL's second all-time rusher, and he ranked third in rushing touchdowns scored. Along with Frank Gifford, Payton threw six (6) interceptions, more than any other non-quarterback position in NFL history. He also passed for 8 touchdowns.

Career totals

! Stat	! Regular season	! Postseason
Rushing Yards		632
Rushing Touchdowns		2
Rushing Attempts		180
Receiving Yards	4,538	178
Receiving Touchdowns	15	0
Receptions	492	22
Yards from Scrimmage		810
All-purpose Yards		867
Passing Yards	331	19
Passing Touchdowns	8	1
Games Played	190	9

NFL records

Service

Consecutive regular season starts by a running back: 170, from to

Payton missed only one game in his career in which he was eligible to play, which was due to a coach's decision.

Rushing attempts

Consecutive seasons leading the league in rushing attempts: 4 (—)

Rushing yards gained

Rushing yards gained, career: 16,726

Broken by Emmitt Smith

Seasons with 1,000 or more yards rushing: 10 (—, —) Payton played in only nine games during the season due to the player's strike.

Broken by Emmitt Smith

Rushing yards gained, game: 275, Chicago Bears vs. Minnesota Vikings, Broken by Corey Dillon on

Games with 100 or more yards rushing, career: 77

Broken by Emmitt Smith

Consecutive games with 100 or more yards rushing: 9, from to

Broken by Barry Sanders

Rushing touchdowns

Rushing touchdowns, career: 110

Broken by Marcus Allen

Yards from scrimmage gained

Yards from scrimmage gained, career: 21,264

Broken by Jerry Rice

Games with 100 or more yards from scrimmage gained, career: 108

All-purpose attempts

All-purpose attempts, career: 4,368

Broken by Emmitt Smith

All-purpose attempts, season: 400 () Broken by Eric Dickerson in

All-purpose yards gained

All-purpose yards gained, career: 21,803

Games with 150 or more all-purpose yards gained, career: 46

Tied by Barry Sanders

References

External links

Payton34.com, the Walter and Connie Payton Foundation

Walter Payton's Roundhouse

Walter Payton Cancer Fund

Walter Payton Liver Center at the University of Illinois Medical Center at Chicago

Walter Payton tribute page at the Chicago Bears

Payton needs liver transplant, ''Sports Illustrated'', February 2, 1999

Biography at Bearshistory.com

season |after=Terry Bradshaw }}

Category:1954 births Category:1999 deaths Category:African American players of American football Category:American football running backs Category:American racecar drivers Category:Cancer deaths in Illinois Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:Chicago Bears players Category:Deaths from cholangiocarcinoma Category:Jackson State Tigers football players Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players Category:NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team Category:National Football League 10,000 yard rushers Category:Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from Marion County, Mississippi Category:National Football League players with retired numbers Category:People from Barrington, Illinois Category:Trans-Am drivers

de:Walter Payton fr:Walter Payton it:Walter Payton lv:Volters Peitons ja:ウォルター・ペイトン no:Walter Payton pl:Walter Payton pt:Walter Payton simple:Walter Payton

name	Shepard Smith
birthname	David Shepard Smith Jr.
birth date	January 14, 1964
birth place	Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA
occupation	News anchor for Fox News Channel
alias	Shep
salary	US$7 to 8 million
credits	• ''Studio B'' anchor• ''The Fox Report'' anchor
url	http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,1260,00.html }}

David Shepard Smith, Jr. (born January 14, 1964), known better as Shepard Smith, is an American television news anchor. He is host of ''Fox Report with Shepard Smith'' and ''Studio B'' weekdays on Fox News Channel. In addition, he anchors the 5:00 p.m. ET weekday news update on Fox News Radio, also titled ''Fox Report''.

Early life

Smith was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, the son of Dora Ellen Anderson, an English teacher, and David Shepard Smith, Sr., a cotton merchant. He attended Marshall Academy, a K–12 private school in Holly Springs, but completed his senior year of high school in Florida, where he, his mother, and brother moved after his parents separated. Smith went on to attend the University of Mississippi. He majored in journalism, but left two credits away from graduation. He frequently returns to the university during college football season and delivered the university's annual commencement address on May 10, 2008.

Journalism career

Smith signed his first television contract with WJHG-TV in Panama City Beach, Florida. He worked as a reporter for WCJB-TV in Gainesville, Florida (1985), a reporter for WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, reporter/anchor in Miami with WSVN and as a reporter at WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando. In Los Angeles, California he was a correspondent for ''A Current Affair''. He joined the Fox News Channel at its inception in 1996.

Smith has been assigned to cover many major news stories during his career. In 1997, he reported on the death and funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. In November 2000, he was sent to Florida to cover the Florida ballot counting controversy during the United States Presidential election. In 2001, he traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana, to be one of the media witnesses to the execution of Timothy McVeigh. In late August 2005, he spent a little over a week in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, to provide news reports on the events and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

''The Fox Report with Shepard Smith'' remains the top-rated newscast in cable news and is ranked third in the top programs in U.S. cable news. Shepard Smith tied for second (along with Dan Rather and Peter Jennings) as the most trusted news anchor on both network and cable news in a 2003 ''TV Guide'' poll. In addition to anchoring Fox News Channel's flagship news program, Smith also anchors most prime time news presentations provided by Fox News for the Fox television network.

On November 19, 2007, ''The New York Times'' reported that Smith had signed a three-year contract giving him between US$7 and 8 million per year. This contract places Smith into the same pay league as anchor Brian Williams of NBC and former anchor Charles Gibson of ABC. Smith renewed his contract with Fox on October 26, 2010, for another three years.

Appearances in film

Smith has appeared as himself in the film ''Volcano''. Video of Smith anchoring on Fox News Channel during the opening moments of the March 2003 Iraq War was also used in the film ''Fahrenheit 9/11.''

Personal life

Smith married Virginia Donald, a University of Mississippi classmate, in 1987. They divorced in 1993 with no children.

In November 2000, Smith found himself the subject of the news, while he was in Florida covering the Florida ballot counting controversy. The ''St. Petersburg Times'' reported that he had been arrested on November 17 for aggravated battery with a motor vehicle. The alleged victim was Maureen Walsh, another reporter who was also in Florida covering the election controversy. According to the ''Tallahassee Democrat'', on July 20, 2001, the charge "was reduced to misdemeanor battery" and dismissed after an out of court settlement in June 2001.

References

External links

Biography at FoxNews.com

''Studio B'' official website

''Fox Report'' official website

Category:1964 births Category:American television news anchors Category:American television reporters and correspondents Category:Fox News Channel Category:Living people Category:People from Holly Springs, Mississippi Category:Fox News Channel people

de:Shepard Smith