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Sharon Stone

Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress, painter and former model. Known for primarily playing femmes fatales and mysterious women in film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a nomination for an Academy Award. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995 and was named Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France in 2005 (Commander in 2021).

After modeling in television commercials and print advertisements, Stone made her film debut as an extra in Woody Allen's dramedy Stardust Memories (1980) and played her first speaking part in Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Blessing (1981). In the 1980s, she appeared in such pictures as Irreconcilable Differences (1984), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Cold Steel (1987), and Above the Law (1988). She had a breakthrough with her part in Paul Verhoeven's science fiction action film Total Recall (1990), before rising to international recognition when she portrayed Catherine Tramell in another Verhoeven film, the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992), for which she earned her first Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Stone's performance as a trophy wife in Martin Scorsese's epic crime drama Casino (1995) earned her the best reviews of her career, which garnered her a Golden Globe Award along with an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Her other notable films include Sliver (1993), The Specialist (1994), The Quick and the Dead (1995), Sphere (1998), The Mighty (1998), The Muse (1999), Catwoman (2004), Broken Flowers (2005), Alpha Dog (2006), Bobby (2006), Lovelace (2013), Fading Gigolo (2013), The Disaster Artist (2017), and The Laundromat (2019).

On television, Stone has had leading and supporting roles in productions such as the ABC miniseries War and Remembrance (1987), the HBO television film If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), Steven Soderbergh's Mosaic (2017) and Ryan Murphy's Ratched (2020). She made guest appearances in The Practice (2004) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2010), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for the former.

Early life and education
Sharon Vonne Stone was born on March 10, 1958, in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to Dorothy Marie (née Lawson), an accountant, and Joseph William Stone II, a tool and die manufacturer and former factory worker. She has three siblings: Michael, Kelly, and Patrick Joseph (died in 2023). She has some Irish ancestry. In a 2013 interview with Conan O'Brien, she stated that her Irish ancestors arrived in the United States during the Great Famine. Stone was considered academically gifted as a child and entered the second grade when she was five years old. In an interview with The New York Times in March 2021, while promoting her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, Stone said that she and her sister were both sexually abused as children by their maternal grandfather. At 14, her neck was badly injured while breaking a horse when the animal bucked as it charged toward a washing line.

She graduated from Saegertown High School in Saegertown, Pennsylvania, in 1975. Stone was admitted to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania on a creative writing scholarship at age 15, but quit college and moved to New York City to become a fashion model. Inspired by Hillary Clinton, Stone later went back to Edinboro University to complete her degree in 2016.

Modeling and early screen appearances (1976–1989)
While attending Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Stone won the title of Miss Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and in 1976, was a candidate for Miss Pennsylvania. One of the pageant judges told her to quit college and move to New York City to become a fashion model. Stone left Meadville and moved in with an aunt in New Jersey, and by 1977, she had been signed by Ford Modeling Agency in New York City. She soon moved to Europe, living for a year in Milan and then in Paris. While living there, she decided to quit modeling and pursue acting. "So I packed my bags, moved back to New York, and stood in line to be an extra in a Woody Allen movie," she later recalled. At 20, Stone was cast for a brief role in Allen's dramedy Stardust Memories (1980) and had a speaking part a year later in the horror film Deadly Blessing (1981).

French director Claude Lelouch cast Stone in the musical epic Les Uns et les Autres (1982), starring James Caan, but she was on screen for two minutes and did not appear in the credits. She secured guest-spots on the television series Silver Spoons (1982), Bay City Blues (1983), Remington Steele (1983), Magnum, P.I. (1984), and T. J. Hooker (1985); played a starlet who breaks up the marriage of a successful director and his screenwriter wife in the drama Irreconcilable Differences (1984), opposite Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and a young Drew Barrymore; and starred as a resourceful woman teaming up with a fortune hunter (played by Richard Chamberlain) in the action-centered King Solomon's Mines (1985) and Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986), a light, comedic take on the Indiana Jones film series, which were poorly received by critics and audiences. In his review for King Solomon's Mines, Walter Goodman of The New York Times considered that Stone was "up to date as a spunky, sexy, smart-talking heroine with an effective right hook" but felt that the story was "lost in the effects". For her performance in Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold, she received her first Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress.

Stone obtained the role of Janice Henry in the ABC miniseries War and Remembrance (1987), the sequel to the 1983 miniseries The Winds of War, based on the 1978 novel of the same name written by Herman Wouk. Through the remainder of the 1980s, she appeared as a reporter in the comedy Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987), an attractive but mysterious woman with a hidden agenda in the thriller Cold Steel (1987), the wife of an ex-CIA agent in the crime film Above the Law (1988) and the ill-fated wife of a successful businessman in the action film Action Jackson (1988).

Breakthrough and Basic Instinct (1990–1992)
In Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall (1990), a science fiction action film opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stone played the seemingly loving wife of a construction worker. The film received favorable reviews and made $261.2 million worldwide, giving Stone's career a major boost, leading to her being cast in five feature films released throughout 1991. She played what Roger Ebert described as the "bad girl" in the romantic comedy He Said, She Said, a sexually repressed woman in the psychological thriller Scissors, a wealthy blonde in the crime drama Diary of a Hitman, a provocative young photojournalist in the thriller Year of the Gun and the agent and former lover of a writer in the neo-noir Where Sleeping Dogs Lie.

In another Verhoeven film, the erotic thriller Basic Instinct (1992), she took on the role that made her a star, playing Catherine Tramell, a bisexual woman and alleged serial killer. Several actresses at the time turned down the role, mostly because of the nudity required. Critical response towards Basic Instinct was mixed, but Stone received critical acclaim for her "star-making performance"; Peter Travers of Rolling Stone remarked that "Verhoeven's cinematic wet dream delivers the goods, especially when Sharon Stone struts on with enough come-on carnality to singe the screen," and observed of the actress' portrayal: "Stone, a former model, is a knockout; she even got a rise out of Ah-nold in Verhoeven's Total Recall. But being the bright spot in too many dull movies (He Said, She Said; Irreconcilable Differences) stalled her career. Though Basic Instinct establishes Stone as a bombshell for the 1990s, it also shows she can nail a laugh or shade an emotion with equal aplomb." Australian critic Shannon J. Harvey of The Sunday Times called the film "one of the best films of the early 1990s, doing more for female empowerment than any feminist rally. Stone – in her star-making performance – is as hot and sexy as she is ice-pick cold." For the part, Stone earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, four MTV Movie Awards nominations, and a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst New Star for her "tribute to Theodore Cleaver". The film also became one of the most financially successful productions of the 1990s, grossing US$352.9 million worldwide.

Leading lady status (1993–1999)
In 1993, Stone played a femme fatale in the erotic thriller Sliver, based on Ira Levin's eponymous novel about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York City high-rise apartment building. The film was heavily panned by critics and earned Stone a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actress but became a commercial success, grossing US$116.3 million at the international box office. She also made a cameo appearance in the action film Last Action Hero (1993), reuniting with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 1994, Stone appeared as the wife of an architect opposite Richard Gere in the drama Intersection, and as a woman who entices a bomb expert she is involved with into destroying the criminal gang that killed her family, alongside Sylvester Stallone, in the action thriller The Specialist. While Intersection found limited success, The Specialist made US$170.3 million worldwide. For her work in both films, she won a Golden Raspberry Award and a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Actress, but was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Most Desirable Female for The Specialist.

In The Quick and the Dead (1995), Stone took on the role of a gunfighter who returns to a frontier town in an effort to avenge her father's death. She served as a producer on the film and had some creative control over the production; she chose director Sam Raimi, after being impressed by his work on Army of Darkness, and co-star Russell Crowe after watching Romper Stomper. She paid Leonardo DiCaprio's salary herself after a reluctance from Sony, the film's studio, over his casting. The Quick and the Dead was a modest profit and earned Stone a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress. Stone starred opposite Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's epic crime drama Casino (1995), where she took on the role of Ginger McKenna, the scheming, self-absorbed wife of a top gambling handicapper (De Niro). The film, based on the non-fiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi, received widespread critical acclaim, made US$116.1 million globally, and earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During an interview with The Observer, published on January 28, 1996, Stone said of the response: "Thank God. I mean just finally, wow [...] I am not getting any younger. It couldn't have happened at a better time". That year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located at 6925 Hollywood Blvd, and was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.

Stone portrayed the mistress of a cruel school master in the psychological thriller Diabolique (1996), a woman waiting on death row for a brutal double murder in the drama Last Dance (1996), and a biologist in the suspense film Sphere (1998). The three aforementioned films were panned by critics and failed to find an audience in theatres. In 1998, Stone also lent her voice for the successful animated film Antz, and played the mother of a 13-year-old boy suffering from Morquio syndrome in the drama The Mighty, which garnered a positive critical response. Stone was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the lattermost.

Her turn as a street-wise, middle-aged moll in Gloria (1999), a remake of the 1980 film of the same name, proved to be a critical and commercial misfire. A titular role followed in 1999 with the comedy The Muse, playing the inspiration of an esteemed screenwriter. Wade Major, a critic for Boxoffice, found her portrayal of a "dizzy Muse" to be "the film's most delightful surprise", but most reviews were ultimately lukewarm. Helmut Voss, then president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who give the annual Golden Globe Awards, ordered all 82 of its members to return gift luxury watches sent by either Stone or October Films (now merged into Focus Features) as this was considered promotions for a nomination for Stone's performance in the film. She ultimately received the nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

Hiatus and downturn (2000–2004)
In 2000, Stone played a lesbian trying to start a family, opposite Ellen DeGeneres, in the HBO television film If These Walls Could Talk 2 and starred as an exotic dancer, alongside Billy Connolly, in the comedy Beautiful Joe. While she was recognized by Women in Film with her second Lucy Award for her performance in If These Walls Could Talk 2, Beautiful Jo premiered on cable television instead of receiving a theatrical release in North America. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club, who had been critical of Stone's previous films, wrote that "nothing she's done has been quite as shameless or appalling as Beautiful Joe, a toxic piece of whimsy that ranks among the worst films of 2000".

In September 2001 se faced health problems and was hospitalized for a subarachnoid hemorrhage. As a result Stone took a hiatus from screen acting. She faced professional challenges as she was in the process of recovery. She felt that she had "lost [her] place" in Hollywood, and during a 2015 interview with USA Today, she remarked: "[When] you find yourself at the back of the line in your business, as I did, [you] have to figure yourself out all over again." She returned to the screen in 2003, when she took on a three-episode arc as Sheila Carlisle, an attorney who believes she can communicate with God, in the eighth season of The Practice. For her performance, she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

Stone attempted a return to the mainstream with roles in the films Cold Creek Manor (2003), with Dennis Quaid, and Catwoman (2004), with Halle Berry. In the mystery psychological thriller Cold Creek Manor, she and Quaid played a couple terrorized by the former owner of the rural estate they bought in foreclosure. Variety magazine remarked in its review for the film that both actors "fish in vain to find any angles to play in their dimension-free characters". The superhero film Catwoman saw her play the age-obsessed CEO of a cosmetic company and the story's antagonist. While both films flopped at the box office, Catwoman is considered by many critics to be one of the worst movies of all time.

Independent films and ensemble dramas (2005–2017)
She next appeared in Jim Jarmusch's road movie Broken Flowers (2005), in which erstwhile womanizer Bill Murray revisits, unannounced, all of his old flames in search of the one who sent him an anonymous letter stating that he is the father of her son. Stone plays one of these former lovers, a professional closet organizer and single mother with a teenage daughter. Unlike her previous few film outings, Broken Flowers was well received by the critics. At its premiere during the Cannes Film Festival, it was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix. Far Out Magazine ranked Stone's role among one of her "10 best performances", while New York Magazine remarked: "Sharon Stone, playing a widow who's half-hippie, half-working-class-tough, demonstrates that, given the right part, she's still not merely sexy but knockabout funny and sly". In 2005, she was named Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

After years of litigation, Basic Instinct 2 was finally released on March 31, 2006. One reason for the long delay was, reportedly, Stone's dispute with the filmmakers over the nudity in the film; she wanted more while they wanted less. Stone told an interviewer, "We are in a time of odd repression and if a popcorn movie allows us to create a platform for discussion, wouldn't that be great?". Despite an estimated budget of US$70 million, Basic Instinct 2 placed only tenth in gross receipts on its opening weekend with a meager US$3.2 million, finishing with a total domestic gross of under US$6 million. Stone appeared in Nick Cassavetes's crime drama Alpha Dog (2006), opposite Bruce Willis, playing Olivia Mazursky, the mother of a real-life murder victim; she wore a fatsuit for the role. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was an arthouse success. She made part of an ensemble cast in Emilio Estevez's drama Bobby (2006), about the hours leading up to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Stone received favorable comments for her performance, particularly a scene alongside Lindsay Lohan. As a member of the cast, she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, but won the Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Stone took on the role of a clinically depressed woman in the independent drama When a Man Falls in the Forest (2007), which premiered in competition at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival where it was nominated for the Golden Bear. All of her late 2000s films —If I Had Known I Was a Genius (2007), The Year of Getting to Know Us (2008), Five Dollars a Day (2009) and Streets of Blood (2009)— were direct-to-DVD releases in North America. In 2010, Stone made guest-appearances in four episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portraying Jo Marlowe, a former cop turned prosecutor. Entertainment Weekly included in a review such descriptions of her performance as a "great presence", and having "had to revive her best [...] tone to sell hokey lines" in a series it described as "mawkish and overwrought". She took on the leading female role in the French action sequel Largo Winch II as a United Nations investigator named Diane Francken. Her first theatrical-released production since 2007, the film premiered on February 16, 2011, in France, where it opened in second place at the box office. She next starred as a hard-hitting journalist in the thriller Border Run (2012), which received a direct-to-DVD release.

In 2013, Stone played the mother of porn actress Linda Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried) in the biographical drama Lovelace, and a dermatologist seeking a "ménage à trois" in the Woody Allen–John Turturro comedy Fading Gigolo. Both films were released in limited theatres to a decent critical reception; Glenn Kenny, in his review for Fading Gigolo, found Stone to be "splendidly understated" in what he described as "a New York story through and through [...] often funny, sometimes moving, occasionally goofy as hell". In 2014, she starred as an actress-turned-publisher, opposite Riccardo Scamarcio, in the Italian dramedy A Golden Boy (Un ragazzo d'oro), directed by Pupi Avati,  and portrayed America's first female Vice President in the TNT action drama series Agent X, which only aired for one season. Stone next played an adoptive mother in the drama Mothers and Daughters (2016), a "lineman widow" and the "alcoholic mom" of a high-wire worker in the action film Life on the Line (2016),  and a greedy billionaire in the drama  Running Wild (2017). These three films all received a VOD release, to varying responses. James Franco's biographical comedy The Disaster Artist (2017), which featured Stone as Iris Burton, the agent of actor Greg Sestero, was a critical and commercial success, and was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2017.

Film and television balance (2018–present)
Stone returned to television in 2018, when she portrayed a murdered children's book author and illustrator in Steven Soderbergh's HBO mystery production Mosaic, which was released as an iOS/Android mobile app serving as an interactive film and as a television drama. She received positive reviews for her performance. Maureen Ryan of Variety felt that the actress "displays terrific range and depth" and "holds the screen with effortless charisma", and Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote that "Stone's turn is something close to masterful." She earned the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film.

In Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019), a pseudo-documentary film covering Bob Dylan's 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue concert tour, Stone played an exaggerated version of herself. The film was released on Netflix, to critical acclaim. Owen Gleiberman described her appearance as a "marketing hook" and further stated: "The presence of Sharon Stone embodies the spirit of [the Hollywood] machine. She has always been a good actress (probably better than many know; just watch her in Casino), but her fame will forever rest on a certain crudely riveting but debased high-budget exploitation thriller". She reunited with Soderbergh for The Laundromat (2019), in which she played a harried realtor, opposite Meryl Streep.

In Netflix's psychological thriller series Ratched (2020), a prequel to Miloš Forman's 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest developed by Ryan Murphy, Stone portrayed a wealthy heiress who hires a hit man to kill a doctor for disfiguring her son. Intrigued by Murphy's pitch for her character, which he wrote for her, Stone described the part as "completely insane. And at the same time she thinks she's really a loving mother who has her shit together". The series garnered a decent critical response and was viewed by 48 million people in its first four weeks of release. In 2020 Stone appeared as herself in an introduction to the fifth episode of The New Pope, where she had an audience with John Malkovich as Pope John Paul III.

In 2021, she also appeared as herself in the dramedy Here Today, directed by Billy Crystal, and was cast in the romantic drama Beauty, directed by Andrew Dosunmu for Netflix.

In media and fashion
For her leading roles in erotic and adult-themed feature films such as Basic Instinct, Sliver, and The Specialist, Stone cemented what was described as a "tough-talking, no-underwear, voyeuristic, cool-as-ice, sex symbol" status during the 1990s. She has appeared on the covers and pictorials of over 300 celebrity and fashion magazines throughout her four-decade acting career. She graced the June–July 1986 cover of French Vogue, and to coincide with the release of Total Recall, she posed nude for the July 1990 issue of Playboy, flaunting the muscles she had developed in preparation for the film. Following Basic Instinct, photographer George Hurrell took a series of photographs of Stone, Sherilyn Fenn, Julian Sands, Raquel Welch, Eric Roberts, and Sean Penn. Stone, who was Hurrell's reportedly last sitting before his death in 1992, is also a collector of the photographer's original prints and wrote the foreword to the book Hurrell's Hollywood. In 1993, she appeared in Pirelli's commercial, Driving Instinct, in 2005, became the face of Dior's Capture skincare line, and in 2016, starred with Paul Sculfor in Airfield's (de) Fashion Is a Lovestory short film.

Stone's public and professional profiles have been strongly tied to her perceived beauty and sex appeal. She has ranked among the "50 most beautiful people in the world" by People in 1992, the "100 sexiest stars in film history" by Empire in 1995 and 1997, and the "25 sexiest stars of the century" by Playboy in 1999. She has also been the subject of four television documentary specials, and several biographies have been written about her. On her sex symbol image, Stone told Oprah Winfrey on Oprah Prime in 2014: "It's a pleasure for me now. I mean, I'm gonna be 56 years old. If people want to think I'm a sex symbol, it's, like, yeah. Think it up. You know. I mean, like, good for me". She posed nude for the September 2015 issue of Harper's Bazaar, in which she stated: "At a certain point you start asking yourself, 'What really is sexy?' It's not just the elevation of your boobs. It's being present and having fun and liking yourself enough to like the person that's with you".

Criticism
Stone was criticized, in China, over her comments in an exchange on the red carpet with Hong Kong's Cable Entertainment News during the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2008. When asked about the 2008 Sichuan earthquake she remarked:

"Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don't like that. And I had been this, you know, concerned about, oh how should we deal with the Olympics because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"

One of China's biggest cinema chains reacted to Stone's comments by declaring it would not show her films in its theaters. The founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, Ng See-yuen, called Stone's comments "inappropriate", and said the UME Cineplex chain would no longer present her films. Dior advertisements featuring Stone's image were dropped from all ads in China amid the public uproar. Stone was removed from the 2008 Shanghai International Film Festival guest list, and the event's organizers considered banning the actress permanently. Dior China had originally posted an apology in Stone's name, but Stone later denied making the apology during an interview with The New York Times, saying "I'm not going to apologize. I'm certainly not going to apologize for something that isn't real and true – not for face creams," although she did admit that she had "sounded like an idiot." However, after the interview, Stone released a statement entitled "In my own words by Sharon Stone" in which she said "I could not be more regretful of that mistake. It was unintentional. I apologize. Those words were never meant to be hurtful to anyone." While Stone cited the Dalai Lama as her "good friend" when she made the remark at the Cannes film festival, the Dalai Lama has reportedly distanced himself by saying of her only, "yes, I've met that lady".

Personal life
Stone is a Tibetan Buddhist, having been converted to Buddhism when Richard Gere introduced her to the Dalai Lama. She has said she believes in God. On September 29, 2001, Stone was hospitalized for a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which was diagnosed as a vertebral artery dissection rather than the more common ruptured aneurysm, and treated with an endovascular coil embolization. She has stated while she was sick people took advantage of her and stole $18 million from her. She nearly went broke.

Relationships and family
In 1984, she met television producer Michael Greenburg on the set of The Vegas Strip War, a television film he produced and she starred in. They married the same year. In 1986, Greenburg was her line producer on Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold. The couple separated three years later, and their divorce was finalized in 1990.

Stone and comedian Garry Shandling were students of acting coach Roy London and dated briefly. She appeared on his show The Larry Sanders Show in the episode "The Mr. Sharon Stone Show". They remained close friends until Shandling's death in 2016. In the documentary Special Thanks to Roy London, interviews with Stone and Shandling     discuss their relationship.

In 1993, Stone met William J. MacDonald on the set of the film Sliver, which he co-produced. MacDonald left his wife Naomi Baka for Stone and became engaged to her. They separated one year later in 1994. After they separated, Stone returned the engagement ring via FedEx. While working on the film The Quick and the Dead in 1994, Stone met Bob Wagner, a first assistant director, and they became engaged.

On February 14, 1998, Stone married Phil Bronstein, executive editor of The San Francisco Examiner and later San Francisco Chronicle. Stone suffered several miscarriages due to an autoimmune disease and endometriosis and was unable to have biological children. They adopted a son, Roan Joseph Bronstein, in 2000. Bronstein filed for divorce in 2003, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce became final in 2004, with a judge ruling that Roan would remain primarily with Bronstein and Stone would have visitation rights.

Stone adopted her second son, Laird Vonne, in 2005 and her third son, Quinn Kelly Stone, in 2006. As of 2018, Stone resides with her three sons in West Hollywood, California, in a home once owned by the actor Montgomery Clift.

Activism
In March 2006, Stone traveled to Israel to promote peace in the Middle East through a press conference with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres. In 2013, she referred to Peres as her "mentor". On October 23, 2013, Stone received the Peace Summit Award for her work for people with HIV/AIDS.

In 2015, Stone was guest of honor at the Pilosio Building Peace Award in Milan. She began an impromptu auction on stage in front of a crowd of CEOs from the construction industry and other dignitaries. She gained enough pledges to build 28 schools in Africa.

Filmography and accolades
In a career spanning over four decades, Stone has had over one hundred acting credits in film and on television. She has won 10 awards from 41 nominations, including one Golden Globe Award (for Casino), one Primetime Emmy Award (for The Practice), and two MTV Movie Awards (for Basic Instinct). Her top-billing roles and most notable films include:

• Deadly Blessing (1981)

• Irreconcilable Differences (1984)

• King Solomon's Mines (1985)

• Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1986)

• Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)

• Above the Law (1988)

• Action Jackson (1988)

• Total Recall (1990)

• Scissors (1991)

• Basic Instinct (1992)

• Sliver (1993)

• The Specialist (1994)

• The Quick and the Dead  (1995)

• Casino (1995)

• Diabolique (1996)

• Antz (1998)

• Sphere (1998)

• The Mighty (1998)

• The Muse (1999)

• Gloria (1999)

• Cold Creek Manor (2003)

• Catwoman (2004)

• Broken Flowers (2005)

• Basic Instinct 2 (2006)

• Alpha Dog (2006)

• Bobby (2006)

• Lovelace (2013)

• Fading Gigolo (2013)

• The Disaster Artist (2017)

• All I Wish (2018)

• Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019)

• The Laundromat (2019)

title: Sharon Stone


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Rutile

Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite.

Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visible wavelengths of any known crystal and also exhibits a particularly large birefringence and high dispersion. Owing to these properties, it is useful for the manufacture of certain optical elements, especially polarization optics, for longer visible and infrared wavelengths up to about 4.5 micrometres. Natural rutile may contain up to 10% iron and significant amounts of niobium and tantalum.

Rutile derives its name from the Latin ('red'), in reference to the deep red color observed in some specimens when viewed by transmitted light. Rutile was first described in 1803 by Abraham Gottlob Werner using specimens obtained in Horcajuelo de la Sierra, Madrid (Spain), which is consequently the type locality.

Occurrence
Rutile is a common accessory mineral in high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic rocks and in igneous rocks.

Thermodynamically, rutile is the most stable polymorph of TiO2 at all temperatures, exhibiting lower total free energy than metastable phases of anatase or brookite. Consequently, the transformation of the metastable TiO2 polymorphs to rutile is irreversible. As it has the lowest molecular volume of the three main polymorphs, it is generally the primary titanium-bearing phase in most high-pressure metamorphic rocks, chiefly eclogites.

Within the igneous environment, rutile is a common accessory mineral in plutonic igneous rocks, though it is also found occasionally in extrusive igneous rocks, particularly those such as kimberlites and lamproites that have deep mantle sources. Anatase and brookite are found in the igneous environment, particularly as products of autogenic alteration during the cooling of plutonic rocks; anatase is also found in placer deposits sourced from primary rutile.

The occurrence of large specimen crystals is most common in pegmatites, skarns, and granite greisens. Rutile is found as an accessory mineral in some altered igneous rocks, and in certain gneisses and schists. In groups of acicular crystals it is frequently seen penetrating quartz as in the fléches d'amour from Graubünden, Switzerland. In 2005 the Republic of Sierra Leone in West Africa had a production capacity of 23% of the world's annual rutile supply, which rose to approximately 30% in 2008.

Crystal structure
Rutile has a tetragonal unit cell, with unit cell parameters a = b = 4.584 Å, and c = 2.953 Å. The titanium cations have a coordination number of 6, meaning they are surrounded by an octahedron of 6 oxygen atoms. The oxygen anions have a coordination number of 3, resulting in a trigonal planar coordination. Rutile also shows a screw axis when its octahedra are viewed sequentially. When formed under reducing conditions, oxygen vacancies can occur, coupled to Ti3+ centers. Hydrogen can enter these gaps, existing as an individual vacancy occupant (pairing as a hydrogen ion) or creating a hydroxide group with an adjacent oxygen.

Rutile crystals are most commonly observed to exhibit a prismatic or acicular growth habit with preferential orientation along their c axis, the [001] direction. This growth habit is favored as the {110} facets of rutile exhibit the lowest surface free energy and are therefore thermodynamically most stable. The c-axis oriented growth of rutile appears clearly in nanorods, nanowires and abnormal grain growth phenomena of this phase.

Application
In large enough quantities in beach sands, rutile forms an important constituent of heavy minerals and ore deposits. Miners extract and separate the valuable minerals – e.g., rutile, zircon, and ilmenite. The main uses for rutile are the manufacture of refractory ceramic, as a pigment, and for the production of titanium metal.

Finely powdered rutile is a brilliant white pigment and is used in paints, plastics, paper, foods, and other applications that call for a bright white color. Titanium dioxide pigment is the single greatest use of titanium worldwide. Nanoscale particles of rutile are transparent to visible light but are highly effective in the absorption of ultraviolet radiation (sunscreen). The UV absorption of nano-sized rutile particles is blue-shifted compared to bulk rutile so that higher-energy UV light is absorbed by the nanoparticles. Hence, they are used in sunscreens to protect against UV-induced skin damage.

Small rutile needles present in gems are responsible for an optical phenomenon known as asterism. Asteriated gems are known as "star" gems. Star sapphires, star rubies, and other star gems are highly sought after and are generally more valuable than their normal counterparts.

Rutile is widely used as a welding electrode covering. It is also used as a part of the ZTR index, which classifies highly weathered sediments.

Semiconductor
Rutile, as a large band-gap semiconductor, has in recent decades been the subject of significant research towards applications as a functional oxide for applications in photocatalysis and dilute magnetism. Research efforts typically utilize small quantities of synthetic rutile rather than mineral-deposit derived materials.

Synthetic rutile
Synthetic rutile was first produced in 1948 and is sold under a variety of names. It can be produced from the titanium ore ilmenite through the Becher process. Very pure synthetic rutile is transparent and almost colorless, being slightly yellow, in large pieces. Synthetic rutile can be made in a variety of colors by doping. The high refractive index gives an adamantine luster and strong refraction that leads to a diamond-like appearance. The near-colorless diamond substitute is sold as "Titania", which is the old-fashioned chemical name for this oxide. However, rutile is seldom used in jewellery because it is not very hard (scratch-resistant), measuring only about 6 on the Mohs hardness scale.

As the result of growing research interest in the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide, in both anatase and rutile phases (as well as biphasic mixtures of the two phases), rutile TiO2 in powder and thin film form is frequently fabricated in laboratory conditions through solution based routes using inorganic precursors (typically TiCl4) or organometallic precursors (typically alkoxides such as titanium isopropoxide, also known as TTIP). Depending on synthesis conditions, the first phase to crystallize may be the metastable anatase phase, which can then be converted to the equilibrium rutile phase through thermal treatment. The physical properties of rutile are often modified using dopants to impart improved photocatalytic activity through improved photo-generated charge carrier separation, altered electronic band structures and improved surface reactivity.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rutile


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Project Mogul

Project Mogul (sometimes referred to as Operation Mogul) was a top secret project by the US Army Air Forces involving microphones flown on high-altitude balloons, whose primary purpose was long-distance detection of sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests. The project was carried out from 1947 until early 1949. It was a classified portion of an unclassified project by New York University (NYU) atmospheric researchers. The project was moderately successful, but was very expensive and was superseded by a network of seismic detectors and air sampling for fallout, which were cheaper, more reliable, and easier to deploy and operate.

Project Mogul was conceived by Maurice Ewing who had earlier researched the deep sound channel in the oceans and theorized that a similar sound channel existed in the upper atmosphere: a certain height where the air pressure and temperature result in minimal speed of sound, so that sound waves would propagate and stay in that channel due to refraction. The project involved arrays of balloons carrying disc microphones and radio transmitters to relay the signals to the ground. It was supervised by James Peoples, who was assisted by Albert P. Crary.

One of the requirements of the balloons was that they maintain a relatively constant altitude over a prolonged period of time. Thus instrumentation had to be developed to maintain such constant altitudes, such as pressure sensors controlling the release of ballast.

The early Mogul balloons consisted of large clusters of rubber meteorological balloons, however, these were quickly replaced by enormous balloons made of polyethylene plastic. These were more durable, leaked less helium, and also were better at maintaining a constant altitude than the early rubber balloons. Constant-altitude-control and polyethylene balloons were the two major innovations of Project Mogul.

Subsequent programs
Project Mogul was the forerunner of the Skyhook balloon program, which started in the late 1940s, as well as two other espionage programs involving balloon overflights and photographic surveillance of the Soviet Union during the 1950s, Project Moby Dick and Project Genetrix. The spy balloon overflights raised storms of protest from the Soviets. The constant-altitude balloons also were used for scientific purposes such as cosmic ray experiments. Further development of nuclear detonation detection systems was extensive for decades afterward, culminating in worldwide systems by various countries to keep eyes and ears on detecting and verifying the others' nuclear weapon developments. There would also be fixed-wing United States aerial reconnaissance of the Soviet Union during the 1950s. Overflights would end in 1960 (once an aircraft had been shot down by SAMs), and reconnaissance would for decades afterward be handled mostly by reconnaissance satellites and to some extent by aircraft, such as the A-12 OXCART and SR-71 Blackbird (photography and radar) and RC-135U and similar aircraft (SIGINT including ELINT and COMINT).

Roswell incident

In 1947, a Project Mogul balloon NYU Flight 4, launched June 4, crashed in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. The subsequent military cover-up of the true nature of the balloon and burgeoning conspiracy theories from UFO enthusiasts led to a celebrated "UFO" incident.

Unlike a weather balloon, the Project Mogul paraphernalia was massive and contained unusual types of materials, according to research conducted by The New York Times: "...squadrons of big balloons ... It was like having an elephant in your backyard and hoping that no one would notice it. ... To the untrained eye, the reflectors looked extremely odd, a geometrical hash of lightweight sticks and sharp angles made of metal foil. .. photographs of it, taken in 1947 and published in newspapers, show bits and pieces of what are obviously collapsed balloons and radar reflectors."

Legacy
Implementation of Mogul's experimental infrasound detection of nuclear tests exist today in ground-based detectors, part of so-called Geophysical MASINT (Measurement And Signal INTelligence). In 2013, this world-wide network of sound detectors picked up the large explosion of the Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia. The strength of the sound waves was used to estimate the size of the explosion.

title: Project Mogul


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Talk:One Thousand and One Nights

Persian
The Persian translation of this work is from the Arabic - the earlier Persian prototype (Hezār Afsān) is covered in its own section. Note in particular that --Soundofmusicals (talk) 22:46, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
 * "No physical evidence of the has survived, so its exact relationship with the existing later Arabic versions remains a mystery."

 * It's often the case that historical texts have ambiguous origins. This is especially so when it's a compilation with multiple authors adding to it over centuries. We can surmise that there were Indian, Persian, and Arabic sources for this great work, and perhaps other sources further afield (Ottoman Turkey, Central Asia?). There may have also been translations back & forth and a complex web of influences, which is difficult at best to sort out. All we can do is work with what we've got. Xcalibur (talk) 03:28, 23 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Precisely the point we must make to all 'patriotic" Persian folk who assume that because the frame story has a Persian setting the origins MUST be Persian. At best it ain't necessarily so. We DO give Hezār Afsān a fair go, I think. --Soundofmusicals (talk) 11:45, 24 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's covered fairly. It's clear that Persian language, culture, literary influence, etc was historically prestigious and widespread, see Persianate_society. Thus, a Persian-influenced frame story only narrows it down to somewhere between the Ottoman Empire and Mughal India. Xcalibur (talk) 13:43, 26 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd suggest reading the literature of Iran and all the other countries you think 1001 nights originated from. Also the main story is totally Iranian with all of its characters also being so. The Arabic version was a translation and as much as some prople like to say otherwise, it doesn't change this fact. Arabs got rid of the original which is why we lost many of the stories. Some stories were later added again simply because people kept narrating the stories orally claiming these stories were also in the 1001 nights. It's about time some of us got a new hobby and let go of other countries' heritage. 91.98.32.182 (talk) 12:26, 12 May 2023 (UTC)

Persian language revisited.
Hezār Afsān is a completely different (and, alas, lost) Persian work. Soundofmusicals (talk) 19:20, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Since Hezar Afsan is lost, it seems we can’t conclude whether it is significantly different or not. Ff11 (talk) 20:52, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

"Many" or "Most" stories Arabic folk Tales?
Restored revision 1165772977 by Samfedo (talk): Already pretty neutral - "most" has been there for years now - unless doubts about the source are based on an actual reading of its text rather than a "thought"? --Soundofmusicals (talk) 10:20, 22 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi, thanks for your remarks, however, i would draw your attention on the fact that the source has no page number, and as far as i have seen, there is no such thing as "Most" in it. Please let me know if you think i'm mistaken. Best. ---Wikaviani  (talk) (contribs)  01:38, 21 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Actually we may even need another reference - as "many/most" not strictly linked to this ref.? --Soundofmusicals (talk) 10:23, 22 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Well, when a source has no page number, it's quite hard to find the relevant part of it that supports the claim, but as far as i've been able to check, "many/most" is not mentioned, this is why i tried to neutralize the sentence. ---Wikaviani  (talk) (contribs)  20:42, 22 July 2023 (UTC)

Science fiction in the Thousand and One Nights?
There is a substantial paragraph dedicated to the supposed "proto-science fiction" elements of The Thousand and One Nights. This is, not to put too fine a point on it, absurd. Fantastic undersea realms and/or celestial realms appear in premodern literature and folklore across Eurasia (and probably elsewhere as well, although I know less about this). The same is true of enchanted objects that grant their owner the power of flight. It is ridiculous to apply the label "proto-science fiction" to narratives that incorporate supernatural elements that can be misconstrued to permit superficial analogies with space travel, aviation, et cetera. This is the same kind of sloppy and/or wishful thinking as claiming that premodern stories about dragons are "proto-paleontology" and classing them with Jurassic Park on the grounds that both dragons and dinosaurs are big scary scaly things. 2600:1017:B801:43AD:8477:164A:68E:BA8 (talk) 01:30, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:One Thousand and One Nights


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Yogi Berra

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (born Lorenzo Pietro Berra; May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but the last for the New York Yankees. He was an 18-time All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only six players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

Berra was born in St. Louis, in an Italian community, and signed with the Yankees in 1943 before serving in the United States Navy as a gunner's mate in the Normandy landings during World War II. He was wounded in his left hand, but declined to fill out the paperwork to receive the Purple Heart because he did not want his mother to get a notification telegram and worry that he had been hurt. Berra never received the medal. He made his major-league debut at age 21 in 1946 and was a mainstay in the Yankees' lineup during the team's championship years beginning in 1949 and continuing through 1962. Berra was a power hitter and strong defensive catcher, despite being shorter than most in the league at 5 ft tall. Berra played 18 seasons with the Yankees before retiring after the 1963 season. He spent the next year as their manager, then joined the New York Mets in 1965 as coach (and briefly a player again). Berra remained with the Mets for the next decade, serving the last four years as their manager. He returned to the Yankees in 1976, coaching them for eight seasons and managing for two, before coaching the Houston Astros. Berra appeared as a player, coach or manager in 13 of 15 World Series that New York baseball teams won from 1947 through 1981. (The Brooklyn Dodgers won the 1955 World Series and the NY Giants won the 1954 World series; Berra was neither a player, coach or manager of either team.) Overall, he played or coached in 21 World Series, 13 on the winning side. Berra caught Don Larsen's perfect game in game five of the 1956 World Series. He also holds the all-time record for shutouts caught with 173.

The Yankees retired his uniform number 8 in 1972; Bill Dickey had previously worn number 8, and both catchers had that number retired by the Yankees. The club honored him with a plaque in Monument Park in 1988. Berra was named to the MLB All-Century Team in a vote by fans in 1999. For the remainder of his life, he was closely involved with the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, which he opened on the campus of Montclair State University in 1998. Berra quit school after the eighth grade. He was known for his malapropisms as well as pithy and paradoxical statements, such as "It ain't over 'til it's over", while speaking to reporters. He once simultaneously denied and confirmed his reputation by stating, "I really didn't say everything I said."

Early life
Berra was born Lorenzo Pietro Berra in a primarily Italian neighborhood of St. Louis called The Hill. His parents were Italian immigrants Pietro and Paolina (Longoni) Berra. Pietro was originally from Malvaglio near Milan; he arrived at Ellis Island on October 18, 1909, at the age of 23. In a 2005 interview for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Berra said, "My father came over first. He came from the old country. And he didn't know what baseball was. He was ready to go to work. And then I had three other brothers and a sister. My brother and my mother came over later on. My two oldest brothers, they were born there—Mike and Tony. John and I and my sister Josie were born in St. Louis."

Berra's parents originally gave him the nickname "Lawdie", which was derived from his mother's difficulty pronouncing "Lawrence" or "Larry" correctly. He grew up on Elizabeth Avenue, across the street from boyhood friend and later competitor Joe Garagiola. That block was also home to Jack Buck early in his Cardinals broadcasting career, and it was later renamed "Hall of Fame Place". Berra was a Catholic, and he attended South Side Catholic, now called St. Mary's High School, in south St. Louis with Garagiola. Berra left school after the eighth grade due to a desire to work and assist the family’s finances. He has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

He began playing baseball in local American Legion Baseball leagues, where he learned the basics of catching while playing both outfield and infield positions. While playing in American Legion Baseball, he received the nickname "Yogi" from his friend Jack Maguire, who, after seeing a newsreel about India, said that he resembled a yogi from India whenever he sat around with arms and legs crossed waiting to bat or while looking sad after a losing game.

Minor leagues
In 1942, the St. Louis Cardinals overlooked Berra in favor of his boyhood best friend, Joe Garagiola. On the surface, the Cardinals seemed to think that Garagiola was the superior prospect, but team president Branch Rickey actually had an ulterior motive. Rickey already knew that he was going to leave St. Louis to take over the operation of the Brooklyn Dodgers and was more impressed with Berra than he let on; he apparently had planned to hold Berra off until he could sign him for the Dodgers. However, the Yankees signed Berra for the same $500 bonus ($0 in current dollar terms) the Cardinals offered Garagiola before Rickey could sign Berra to the Dodgers. Berra played for the Norfolk Tars in 1943.

World War II and subsequent return to baseball
Berra joined the United States Navy in 1943, and served as a gunner's mate on the attack transport USS Bayfield (APA-33) during the Normandy landings. A Second Class Seaman, Berra was one of a six-man crew on a Navy rocket boat, firing machine guns and launching rockets at the German defenses on Omaha Beach. He was fired upon and later received several commendations for his bravery. During an interview on the 65th Anniversary of D-Day, Berra confirmed that he was sent to Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion as well. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, he was shot in the left hand during Operation Dragoon, an injury which qualified him for the Purple Heart. However, he never received the medal, because he did not fill out the paperwork. He did not want his mother to get a telegram and worry that he had been hurt. Berra's family tried to obtain the Purple Heart posthumously, but was unable. His military records were burned in the St. Louis Archives fire in 1973, and without his medical records, there was no way to prove he had been wounded.

Following Operation Dragoon, he was sent to Tunisia before returning to the United States in January 1945 and being stationed at Naval Submarine Base New London. While there, he played for the base's semi-pro baseball team. He also bribed guards to allow him to sneak off base and play for the Cranston, Rhode Island, Chiefs for $50 a game under an assumed name, as he was already signed with the Yankees. He was ultimately honorably discharged in May 1946.

Following his military service, Berra played minor-league baseball with the Newark Bears, surprising the team's manager with his talent despite his short stature. He was mentored by Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, whose uniform number Berra took. He later said, "I owe everything I did in baseball to Bill Dickey."

Major leagues
Berra was called up to the Yankees and played his first game on September 22, 1946; he played 7 games that season and 83 games in 1947. He played in more than a hundred games in each of the following 14 years. Berra appeared in 14 World Series, including 10 World Series championships, both of which are records. In part because Berra's playing career coincided with the Yankees' most consistent period of World Series participation, he established Series records for the most games (75), at bats (259), hits (71), doubles (10), singles (49), games caught (63), and catcher putouts (457). In Game 3 of the 1947 World Series, Berra hit the first pinch-hit home run in World Series history, off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca (who later gave up Bobby Thomson's famous Shot Heard 'Round the World in 1951).

Berra was an All-Star for 15 seasons, and was selected to 18 All-Star Games (MLB held two All-Star Games in 1959 through 1962 ). He won the American League (AL) MVP award in 1951, 1954, and 1955; Berra never finished lower than fourth in the MVP voting from 1950 to 1957. He received MVP votes in 15 consecutive seasons, tied with Barry Bonds and second only to Hank Aaron's 19 straight seasons with MVP support. From 1949 to 1955, on a team filled with stars such as Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio, it was Berra who led the Yankees in RBI for seven consecutive seasons. Probably the most notable game of Berra's playing career came when he caught Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series, the first of only three no-hitters, and lone "perfecto" ever thrown in MLB postseason play. The picture of Berra leaping into Larsen's arms following Dale Mitchell's called third strike to end the game is one of the sport's most memorable images.

Playing style
Berra was excellent at hitting pitches outside of the strike zone, covering all areas of the strike zone (as well as beyond) with great extension. In addition to this wide plate coverage, he also had great bat control. He was able both to swing the bat like a golf club to hit low pitches for deep home runs and to chop at high pitches for line drives. Whether changing speeds or location, pitcher Early Wynn soon discovered that "Berra moves right with you." Five times, Berra had more home runs than strikeouts in a season, striking out just twelve times in 597 at-bats in 1950. The combination of bat control and plate coverage made Berra a feared "clutch hitter", proclaimed by rival manager Paul Richards "the toughest man in the league in the last three innings". Contrasting him with teammate Mickey Mantle, Wynn declared Berra "the real toughest clutch hitter", grouping him with Cleveland slugger Al Rosen as "the two best clutch hitters in the game".

As a catcher Berra was outstanding: quick, mobile, and a great handler of pitchers, Berra led all American League catchers eight times in games caught and in chances accepted, six times in double plays (a major-league record), eight times in putouts, three times in assists, and once in fielding percentage. Berra left the game with the AL records for catcher putouts (8,723) and chances accepted (9,520). He was also one of only four catchers ever to field 1.000 in a season, playing 88 errorless games in 1958. He was the first catcher to leave one finger outside his glove, a style that most other catchers eventually emulated. Tom Sturdivant, who pitched for the Yankees from 1955 to 1959, said "I can't say enough for Yogi Berra. It gives a young pitcher a lot of confidence to have a fellow like Berra calling the pitches. No one could set up the hitters better."

At age 37 in June 1962, Berra showed his superb physical endurance by catching an entire 22-inning, seven-hour game against the Detroit Tigers. Casey Stengel, Berra's manager during most of his playing career with the Yankees and with the Mets in 1965, once said, "I never play a game without my man." Later in his career, Berra became a good defensive outfielder in Yankee Stadium's notoriously difficult left field.

Yankee manager and harmonica incident
After spending as a player-coach—he appeared in 64 games (35 as a catcher and 29 as a pinch hitter, batting .293 in 164 at bats), and held down the Yankee's first-base coaching job otherwise—Berra retired as an active player after the 1963 World Series and was immediately named to succeed Ralph Houk as manager of the Yankees.

The so-called Harmonica Incident occurred aboard the team bus in August 1964. Following a loss, infielder Phil Linz was playing his harmonica, and Berra ordered him to stop. Seated on the other end of the bus, Linz could not hear what Berra had said, and Mickey Mantle impishly informed Linz, "He said to play it louder." When Linz did so, an angry Berra slapped the harmonica out of his hands.

All was apparently forgotten when the Yankees rode a September surge to return to the World Series, but the team lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, after which Berra was fired. Houk, who was general manager at the time, later said the decision to fire Berra was made in late August and that the incident with Linz had nothing to do with it. Although he did not elaborate, Houk said that he and the rest of the Yankee brain trust did not feel Berra was ready to manage. Players, however, said the incident actually solidified his managerial authority and helped him lead them to the Series.

Coach of the New York Mets and Houston Astros
Berra was immediately signed by the crosstown New York Mets as a coach. He also put in four cameo appearances as a catcher early in the season. His last at-bat came on May 9, 1965, three days shy of his 40th birthday. Berra stayed with the Mets as a coach under Stengel, Wes Westrum, Salty Parker, and Gil Hodges for the next seven seasons, including their 1969 World Series Championship season. He then became the team's manager in 1972, following Hodges' unexpected death in spring training.

The following season looked like a disappointment at first. Injuries plagued the Mets throughout the season. Midway through the 1973 season, the Mets were stuck in last place but in a very tight divisional race. In July, when a reporter asked Yogi if the season was over, he replied, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

As the Mets' key players came back to the lineup, a late surge allowed them to win the NL East despite an 82–79 record, making it the only time from 1970 through 1980 that the NL East was not won by either their rival Philadelphia Phillies or the Pittsburgh Pirates. When the Mets faced the 99-win Cincinnati Reds in the 1973 National League Championship Series, a memorable fight erupted between Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose in the top of the fifth inning of game three. After the incident and the ensuing bench-clearing brawl had subsided, fans began throwing objects at Rose when he returned to his position in left field in the bottom half of the inning. Sparky Anderson pulled Rose and his Reds off the field until order was restored. When National League president Chub Feeney threatened the Mets with a forfeit, Berra walked out to left field with Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Rusty Staub, and Cleon Jones in order to plead with the fans to desist. Yogi's Mets went on to defeat the highly favored "Big Red Machine" in five games to capture the NL pennant. It was Berra's second as a manager, one in each league. The Mets fell to the Oakland Athletics in the 1973 World Series, but they went the distance in a close, seven-game, series.

Berra's tenure as Mets manager ended with his firing on August 5, 1975. He had a record of 298 wins and 302 losses, which included the 1973 postseason. In 1976, he rejoined the Yankees as a coach. The team won its first of three consecutive AL titles, as well as the 1977 World Series and 1978 World Series, and (as had been the case throughout his playing days) Berra's reputation as a lucky charm was reinforced. Casey Stengel once said of his catcher, "He'd fall in a sewer and come up with a gold watch." Berra was named Yankees manager before the 1984 season. Berra agreed to stay in the job for 1985 after receiving assurances that he would not be terminated, but impatient George Steinbrenner reneged, firing Berra anyway after the 16th game of the season. Moreover, instead of firing him personally, Steinbrenner dispatched Clyde King to deliver the news for him. The incident caused a rift between Berra and Steinbrenner that was not mended for almost 15 years.

Berra joined the Houston Astros as bench coach in 1985, where he again made it to the NLCS in 1986. The Astros lost the series in six games to the Mets. Berra remained a coach in Houston for three more years, retiring after the 1989 season. He finished his managerial career with a regular-season record of 484–444 and a playoff record of 9–10.

After George Steinbrenner ventured to Berra's home in New Jersey to apologize in person for having mishandled Berra's firing as Yankee manager, Berra ended his 14-year estrangement from the Yankee organization in 1999 and worked in spring-training camp with catcher Jorge Posada.

Military
During World War II, Berra served in the Navy as machine gunner participating in the D-Day invasion and earned a Distinguished Unit Citation, two battle stars and a European Theatre of Operations ribbon. He also qualified for a Purple Heart after being wounded in the left hand, but never received the medal.

Major League Baseball
Berra was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in, on his second ballot. That same year, his No. 8 was retired in 1972 by the Yankees, jointly honoring both Berra and Bill Dickey, his predecessor as the Yankees' star catcher.

On August 22, 1988, Berra and Dickey were honored with plaques to be hung in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. Berra's plaque calls him "A legendary Yankee" and cites his most frequent quote, "It ain't over till it's over". However, the honor was not enough to shake Berra's conviction that Steinbrenner had broken their personal agreement; Berra did not set foot in the stadium for another decade, until Steinbrenner publicly apologized to Berra.

In 1996, Berra received an honorary doctorate from Montclair State University, which also named its own campus stadium Yogi Berra Stadium, opened in 1998, in his honor. The stadium is also used by the New Jersey Jackals, an independent minor league baseball team that has also paid homage to Berra by never issuing his jersey number, 8, to anyone.

In 1998, Berra appeared at No. 40 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and fan balloting elected him to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2020, The Athletic ranked Berra at number 43 on its "Baseball 100" list, compiled by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.

On July 18, 1999, Berra was honored with "Yogi Berra Day" at Yankee Stadium. Don Larsen threw the ceremonial first pitch to Berra to honor the perfect game of the 1956 World Series. The celebration marked the return of Berra to the stadium, after the end of his 14-year feud with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. The feud had started in 1985 when Steinbrenner, having promised Berra the job of Yankees' manager for the entire season, fired him after just 16 games. Berra then vowed never to return to Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owned the team. On that day, Yankees pitcher David Cone threw a perfect game against the Montreal Expos, only the 16th time it had ever been done in Major League history.

In 2005, Berra received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 2008, Berra was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Berra was the inaugural recipient of the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award in 2013.

Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, and Yogi Berra Stadium
In 1998, the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center and Yogi Berra Stadium (home of the Montclair State University baseball team and formerly home to the New Jersey Jackals) opened on the campus of Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. The museum is the home of various artifacts, including the mitt with which Yogi caught the only perfect game in World Series history, several autographed and "game-used" items, and nine of Yogi's championship rings.

Berra was involved with the project and frequently visited the museum for signings, discussions, and other events. It was his intention to teach children values such as sportsmanship and dedication on and off the baseball diamond.

On October 8, 2014, a break-in and theft occurred at the museum, and several of Berra's World Series rings and other memorabilia were stolen.

Presidential Medal of Freedom
On November 24, 2015, Berra was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously by President Barack Obama in a ceremony at the White House attended by members of Berra's family, who accepted the award on his behalf. At the ceremony, the President said: "Today we celebrate some extraordinary people. Innovators, artists and leaders who contribute to America's strength as a nation." Celebrating Berra's military service and remarkable baseball career, Obama used one of Berra's famous "Yogi-isms", saying, "One thing we know for sure: If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."

USPS stamp
On July 1, 2021, the United States Postal Service officially issued its Yogi Berra commemorative stamp outside of Berra's museum. Berra is only the 30th baseball player to have his picture on a stamp, and he is the first player to appear on a USPS stamp in nine years. Berra is also the first player since Lou Gehrig in 1989 to receive an issuance all his own, where a great majority of those stamps have been part of multiplayer "issuances".

Other activities
Berra and former teammate Phil Rizzuto were partners in a bowling alley venture in Clifton, New Jersey, originally called Rizzuto-Berra Lanes. The two eventually sold their stakes in the alley to new owners, who changed its name to Astro Bowl before selling the property to a developer, who closed the bowling alley in 1999 and converted it into retail space.

Yogi Berra's Fitness & Racquetball Club in Fairfield, NJ was popular back in the 1980s during the Racquetball craze

Berra was also involved in causes related to his Italian American heritage. He was a longtime supporter of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) and helped fund raise for the Foundation. He was inducted into the Italian American Hall of Fame in 2004.

Berra was a recipient of the Boy Scouts of America's highest adult award, the Silver Buffalo Award.

Based on his style of speaking, Yogi was named "Wisest Fool of the Past 50 Years" by The Economist magazine in January 2005.

In the 2007 television miniseries The Bronx is Burning, Berra was portrayed by actor Joe Grifasi. In the HBO sports docudrama 61*, Berra was portrayed by actor Paul Borghese, and Hank Steinberg's script included more than one of Berra's famous "Yogi-isms". In 2009, Berra appeared in the documentary film A Time for Champions, recounting his childhood memories of soccer in his native St. Louis. The 2022 documentary It Ain't Over focuses on Berra's life and career.

Yogi and his wife Carmen were played by real-life newly married actors Peter Scolari and Tracey Shayne in the 2013 Broadway play Bronx Bombers.

Yogi joined Athlete Ally as a champion for inclusion in sports and as an Athlete Ally Pro Ambassador in 2013. The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center also collaborated with Athlete Ally on the innovative "Championing Respect" museum exhibit, which charted how sports has contributed to social change, such as athletes working for LGBT equality.

Personal life
Berra married Carmen Short on January 26, 1949. They had three sons and were longtime residents of Montclair, New Jersey, until Carmen's declining health caused them to move into a nearby assisted living facility in West Caldwell. Berra's sons also played professional sports: Dale Berra played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees (managed by Yogi in 1984–85), and Houston Astros; Tim Berra played pro football for the Baltimore Colts in the 1974 NFL season; and Larry Berra played for three minor league teams in the New York Mets organization. Carmen Berra died on March 6, 2014, of complications from a stroke, at age 85; the couple had recently celebrated their 65th anniversary. Following Carmen's death, the house in Montclair was listed for sale at $888,000, a reference to Yogi's uniform number.

Death
Berra died in his sleep at the age of 90 of natural causes in West Caldwell, New Jersey, on September 22, 2015.

The Yankees added a number "8" patch to their uniforms in honor of Berra, and the Empire State Building was lit with vertical blue and white Yankee "pinstripes" on September 23. New York City lowered all flags in the city to half-staff for a day in tribute. A moment of silence was held before the September 23 games of the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros, Mets, Nationals, Tigers, Pirates, and his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, as well as the ALPB's Long Island Ducks. The Yogi Berra Museum held a tribute on October 4.

Berra's funeral services were held on September 29, and were broadcast by the YES Network. His ashes were interred next to his wife Carmen at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey. Berra's longtime friend, Joe Garagiola, who lived directly across the street from Berra when they were young, died six months later on March 23, 2016. Berra's Yankee teammate Don Larsen, who pitched the only perfect game in World Series history and was the only surviving member of the 1956 game at the time of Berra's death, died on January 1, 2020.

"Yogi-isms"

Berra was known for his impromptu pithy comments, malapropisms, and seemingly unintentional witticisms, known as "Yogi-isms". These often took the form of either an apparent tautology or a contradiction, but often with underlying humor and wisdom. Allen Barra has described them as "distilled bits of wisdom which, like good country songs and old John Wayne movies, get to the truth in a hurry."

Examples

 * "It ain't over 'til it's over." The Mets trailed the Chicago Cubs by 9½ games in the National League East in July 1973. They rallied to clinch the division title and eventually reached the World Series. This line inspired the song "It Ain't Over 'til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz. Though widely attributed to Berra and becoming the title of a film about him, there is doubt he said the words in the first place.
 * "It's déjà vu all over again." Berra explained that this originated when he witnessed Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris repeatedly hitting back-to-back home runs in the Yankees' seasons in the early 1960s.
 * "You can observe a lot by watching."
 * When giving directions to Joe Garagiola to his New Jersey home, which was accessible by two routes: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."
 * On why he no longer went to Ruggeri's, a St. Louis restaurant: "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
 * At Yogi Berra Day at Sportsman Park in St. Louis: "Thank you for making this day necessary."
 * "Always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't go to yours."
 * On declining attendance in Kansas City: "If people don't want to come to the ballpark, how the hell are you gonna stop them?"
 * "Texas has a lot of electrical votes."
 * "Predictions are hard, especially about the future."
 * "The future ain't what it used to be."
 * "A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore."
 * "If you can't imitate him, don't copy him."
 * "Ninety percent of the game is half mental." (This is sometimes rendered as "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.")
 * "I really didn't say everything I said."

Berra is often incorrectly credited with the saying "It ain't over till the fat lady sings," which was first attributed to Texas Tech University sports information director Ralph Carpenter in 1976. When asked about the quotation in 1998, Berra told a New York Times reporter, "That's one of the things that I said that I never said."

In popular culture
In the 1950s, Berra hired Frank Scott as his agent for off-the-field appearances and endorsements. Scott was the first sports agent to focus on an athlete's off-the-field earnings. Berra appeared in advertisements for products and companies including Yoo-Hoo, Visa, Pringles, Stove Top stuffing, Aflac, Camel cigarettes, Ballantine Beer, Kraft Italian salad dressing, Prest-O-Lite batteries, Wheaties, Shelby bicycles, Diamond Chemicals, Spencer Chemicals, AMF Bowling, Miller Lite, Kinney Shoes, Pepsi, Jockey underwear, wristwatches, orange juice, foot spray, and cat food.

The cartoon character Yogi Bear first appeared in 1958. The name was similar enough to Berra's name that he considered suing Hanna-Barbera, but Hanna-Barbera claimed that the similarity was just a coincidence. Berra's obituary by the Associated Press initially said that Yogi Bear had died.

Books

 * Yogi: The Autobiography of a Professional Baseball Player, Yogi Berra and Ed Fitzgerald (1961) LOC: 61-6504
 * Behind the Plate, Lawrence Yogi Berra and Til Ferdenzi (1962) ISBN 978-1-258-11403-9
 * Yogi: It Ain't Over (1989) ISBN 0-07-096947-7
 * The Yogi Book: I Really Didn't Say Everything I Said (1998) ISBN 0-7611-1090-9
 * When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes (2001) ISBN 0-7868-6775-2
 * What Time Is It? You Mean Now?: Advice for Life from the Zennest Master of Them All (2002) ISBN 0-7432-3768-4
 * Ten Rings: My Championship Seasons (2003) ISBN 0-06-051381-0
 * Let's Go, Yankees! (2006) ISBN 1-932888-81-0
 * You Can Observe a Lot by Watching (2009) ISBN 978-0-470-45404-6
 * The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra (2014) ISBN 0312917600

title: Yogi Berra


text:
Discovery Institute

The Discovery Institute (DI) is a politically conservative think tank that advocates the pseudoscientific concept of intelligent design (ID). It was founded in 1991 in Seattle as a non-profit offshoot of the Hudson Institute.

Its "Teach the Controversy" campaign aims to permit the teaching of anti-evolution, intelligent-design beliefs in United States public high school science courses in place of accepted scientific theories, positing that a scientific controversy exists over these subjects when in fact there is none.

History
The institute was cofounded in 1991 by Bruce Chapman and George Gilder as a non-profit educational foundation and think tank. It was started as a branch organization of the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based conservative think tank. It is named after the Royal Navy ship HMS Discovery in which George Vancouver explored Puget Sound in 1792. The organization was incorporated in 1991.

Discovery Institute Press
Discovery Institute Press is the institute's publishing arm and has published intelligent design books by its fellows including David Berlinski's Deniable Darwin & Other Essays (2010), Jonathan Wells' The Myth of Junk DNA (2011) and an edited volume titled Signature Of Controversy, which contains apologetics in defense of the institute's Center for Science and Culture director Stephen C. Meyer.

Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity
The Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity (PSSI), formally registered as PSSI International Inc., is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit anti-evolution organization, based in Clearwater, Florida, promoting the pseudoscience of intelligent design associated with the Discovery Institute. While in the past, the organization sponsored events promoting intelligent design and fundamentalist Christianity, it is currently largely inactive. The PSSI was established in early 2006 by Rich Akin. Geoffrey Simmons, Discovery Institute fellow, is one of the directors of the PSSI.

The PSSI created a public list of medical professionals who dissent from Darwinism. This list is used by the Discovery Institute in its anti-evolution campaigns. The list is used in support of the Discovery Institute claims that intelligent design is scientifically valid while asserting that evolution lacks broad scientific support.

The PSSI, which was active between 2006 and 2008, held a "Doctors Doubting Darwin" rally at the University of South Florida's Sun Dome in September 2006. Attendance was estimated at 3,500 to 4,000 people by a local reporter. Apologetic organizations promoting the event had hoped to fill all 7,700 seats in the Sun Dome. This meeting featured the Discovery Institute's Jonathan Wells and fellow Michael Behe, and received local radio coverage. This rally was opposed by the Florida Citizens for Science.

Teach the Controversy
Teach the Controversy is a campaign conducted by the Discovery Institute to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design, a variant of traditional creationism, while attempting to discredit the teaching of evolution in United States public high school science courses.

The scientific community and science education organizations have replied that there is no scientific controversy regarding the validity of evolution and that the controversy is a religious and political one. A federal court, along with the majority of scientific organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, say the institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a "false perception" that evolution is "a theory in crisis" by falsely claiming it is the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community. In the December 2005 ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, Judge John E. Jones III concluded that intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents".

Wedge strategy
The Wedge Strategy is a political and social action plan authored by the institute. The strategy was put forth in a Discovery Institute manifesto known as the "Wedge Document". Its goal is to change American culture by shaping public policy to reflect politically conservative, fundamentalist, evangelical Protestant values. The wedge metaphor is attributed to Phillip E. Johnson and depicts a metal wedge splitting a log. In Why Evolution Works (and Creationism Fails) the authors wrote "Although its religious orientation is explicit, the long-term plan outlined in the Wedge Document also displays the Discovery Institute's political agenda very clearly. In ten years, the Wedge strategy was to be extended to ethics, politics, theology; the humanities, and the arts. The ultimate goal of the Discovery Institute is to "overthrow" materialism and "renew" American culture to reflect right-wing Christian values."

Center for Science and Culture
The Center for Science and Culture (CSC), formerly known as the Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture (CRSC), is part of the Discovery Institute, beside other connected sites, such as Mind Matters, operated by the non-profit Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute. It publishes the blog Evolution News & Science Today (formerly Evolution News & Views and often shortened to Evolution News (EN)), that promotes "a rigorously God-centered view of creation, including a new 'science' based solidly on theism."

Homelessness
Christopher Rufo, an activist who later became famous for opposing the teaching of critical race theory, wrote frequently on the subject of homelessness while he worked for the Discovery Institute. In his 2018 Discovery Institute-funded policy paper "Seattle Under Siege: How Seattle's Homelessness Policy Perpetuates the Crisis and How We Can Fix It," Rufo said that four groups"socialist intellectuals", "compassion brigades", the "homeless-industrial complex", and the "addiction evangelists"had successfully framed the debate on homelessness and diverted funding to their projects. He described how the "compassion brigade" had called for social justice using terms such as "compassion, empathy, bias, inequality, root causes, systemic racism." Rufo brought negative attention to All Home, which at the time was King County, Washington's homelessness agency, by sharing a video of an adult entertainer performing at a conference on homelessness. All Home's director was placed on administrative leave and resigned shortly thereafter.

Caitlin Bassett of the Discovery Institute has contributed opinion articles that criticize governmental response to homelessness as wasteful and counterproductive to the goal of ending homelessness. The Discovery Institute opposes the Housing First approach, preferring to prioritize treating homeless people for mental illness or drug addiction.

2020 United States presidential election
Scott S. Powell, a senior fellow of the Institute, has promoted the false claim that the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen.

Climate change
The Discovery Institute website has posted articles denying the scientific consensus on climate change.

title: Discovery Institute