m (fixing broken image) |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| + | {| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin:0 0 0.5em 1em; width:25em;" |
||
| − | [[Image:Jo rowling.jpg|right|thumb|J. K. Rowling]] |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | !colspan=2 style="font-size: larger; background-color:gold; color:black;" | [[{{PAGENAME}}]] |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | |'''Hair colour''' || Black |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | |'''Eye colour''' || Grey |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | |'''House''' || [[Gryffindor]] |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | |'''Parentage''' || Pure-blood |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | |'''Loyalty''' || The [[Order of the Phoenix]] |
||
| + | |} |
||
| + | [[Sirius Black]] (c. [[1960]] - c. [[1996]]) was the last living member of the [[House of Black]], living in [[Grimmauld Place]], [[London]]. He had one brother, [[Regulus Black|Regulus]]. Sirius attended [[Hogwarts]], where he - unlike the rest of his family - was not sorted into [[Slytherin]] but [[Gryffindor]]. There he befriended [[James Potter]], [[Remus Lupin]] and [[Peter Pettigrew]]; he and James were described as exceptionally gifted students. B ecause of the notorious obsession with purity of blood in his family, Black often resolved to staying at James'. In his fifth year Black became an [[Animagus]], to help restrain Lupin, who was a [[werewolf]], acquiring the ability to turn himself into a large black dog at will. When James' son [[Harry Potter|Harry]] was born, Sirius was named his godfather. |
||
| − | '''Joanne Rowling''', <!-- DO NOT put Joanne Kathleen Rowling this is NOT her name. Kathleen only exists as the initial K, used on the books, read below --> [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (born [[31 July]] [[1965]] in [[Yate]]), commonly known as '''J.K. Rowling''' (pronunciation: ''role-ing'', as in rolling stone) is a [[United Kingdom|British]] fiction writer. Rowling is most famous for [[author]]ing the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' [[fantasy]] series, which have gained international attention and have won multiple awards. In [[February 2004]], ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine estimated her fortune as £576 million, making her the first person to become a [[United States dollar|US dollar]] [[billionaire]] by writing books; Rowling is also the wealthiest woman in the United Kingdom, well ahead of even [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Queen Elizabeth II]].[http://www.forbes.com/2004/02/26/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html] [http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsHowMany=25&resultsSortProperties=%2Bstringfield11%2C-numberfield3&resultsSortCategoryName=Country&fromColumnClick=&bktDisplayField=&bktDisplayFieldLength=&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=&resultsStart=301] |
||
| + | In [[1981]], James and his wife [[Lily Potter|Lily]] went into hiding by means of the [[Fidelis charm]]; contrary to popular belief, Pettigrew, and not Black, was their [[Secretkeeper]]. After Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to [[Voldemort]], Black tracked him down. Subsequently Pettigrew blew up the entire street, killing thirteen [[Muggle]] bystanders, changed himself into a rat and fled. Sirius was arrested for the murders of James, Lily, Pettigrew and the Muggles, convicted and sent to [[Azkaban]] for life. After twelve years of imprisonment he escaped in [[1993]], after having seen Pettigrew in the form of a rat on the shoulder of [[Percy Weasley]] in the [[Daily Prophet]]. Black managed to gain entrance to the heavily guarded Hogwarts through a secret passageway from [[Honeydukes]] to the castle, after which he once ripped up the painting of the [[Fat Lady]] and during a second break-in he gained entrance to the [[Gryffindor Common Room]], causing hysteria and panic. |
||
| − | ==Early Life== |
||
| + | Eventually he abducted [[Ronald Weasley]] to the [[Shrieking Shack]] with Pettigrew as Ron's rat, where [[Harry Potter]] and [[Hermione Granger]] followed him, believing Sirius was intent on killing Harry. Ultimately the situation was explained properly, but Pettigrew managed to escape and Sirius was once more arrested, and convicted to the [[Dementors Kiss]]. He was rescued by means of [[Buckbeak]] the [[Hippogriff]], and sought sanctuary at his old home in London, which was later to function as the headquarters of the [[Order of the Phoenix]]. In [[1996]] Sirius travelled with [[Remus Lupin]] and [[Nymphadora Tonks]] to the [[Ministry of Magic]], where the [[prophecy]] regarding [[Voldemort]] and [[Harry Potter]] had been retrieved by the latter and a fight had ensued between the [[Death Eaters]] and Harry and his friends. In the [[Department of Mysteries]] Black fought his cousin [[Bellatrix Lestrange]], who killed him. [[Albus Dumbledore]] retrieved his will, and accordingly Grimmauld Place and everything in it was passed onto Harry Potter. |
||
| − | J.K. Rowling was born in [[Chipping Sodbury]], [[Gloucestershire]], [[United Kingdom]] in [[1965]]. Together with her mother, father, and younger sister, Diana, she moved to [[Winterbourne]], [[Bristol]] and then to [[Tutshill]] near [[Chepstow]]. She attended secondary school at Wyedean Comprehensive, where she told stories to her fellow students. In [[1990]], her 45-year-old mother succumbed to a decade-long battle with [[multiple sclerosis]]. |
||
| + | [[Category:Gryffindors|Black, Sirius]] |
||
| − | After studying French and Classics at [[Exeter University]], with a year of study in [[Paris]], she moved to [[London]] to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for [[Amnesty International]]. During this period, she had the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry while she was on a four-hour, delayed train trip between Manchester and London. When she had reached her destination, she already had the characters and a good part of the plot for ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' in her head, which she began working on during her lunch hours. |
||
| + | [[Category:Members of the Order of the Phoenix|Black, Sirius]] |
||
| − | |||
| + | [[Category:Azkaban convicts|Black, Sirius]] |
||
| − | Rowling then moved to [[Oporto]], [[Portugal]], to teach English as a foreign language. While there she married Portuguese TV journalist Jorge Arantes on [[16 October]] [[1992]]. They had one child, Jessica Rowling Arantes (born [[27 July]] [[1993]]), before their [[divorce]] in [[1995]]. |
||
| + | [[Category:Members of the House of Black|Black, Sirius]] |
||
| − | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | In December, 1994, she and her daughter moved to be near her sister in [[Edinburgh]]. Unemployed and living on state benefits, she completed her first novel, doing some of the work in an Edinburgh cafe. (There is a widely circulated rumour that she wrote in a local cafe in order to escape from her unheated flat - but according to the author this is false). |
||
| − | |||
| − | ==After Harry== |
||
| − | |||
| − | Rowling's publisher, [[Bloomsbury Publishing Plc|Bloomsbury]], wanted to use initials on the cover of the ''Harry Potter'' books, suggesting that if they used an obviously female name, the target group of young boys might be reluctant to buy them. Rowling chose to adopt her grandmother's name, Kathleen, for the middle initial. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' was a huge success, and she has thus far published four sequels. The sales made her a multi-millionaire, and in [[2001]], she purchased a luxurious [[19th-century]] mansion, Killiechassie House, on the banks of the [[River Tay]] in [[Perthshire]], Scotland, where she married her second husband, Dr. Neil Murray, on [[26 December]] [[2001]]. |
||
| − | |||
| − | The ''Harry Potter'' series is expected to run to seven volumes, one for each year Harry spends in school. Five of these have already been published. The fifth book, titled ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'', was delayed by an unsuccessful plagiarism suit directed towards her by rival author [[Nancy Stouffer]] (see below). Rowling took some time off from writing at this point, because during the process of writing the fifth book she felt her workload was too heavy. She said that at one point she had considered breaking her arm to get out of writing, because the pressure on her was too much. After forcing her publishers to drop her deadline, she enjoyed three years of quiet writing, commenting that she spent some time working on something else that she might return to when she is finished with the ''Harry Potter'' series. The fifth book was released on [[21 June]] [[2003]]. |
||
| − | |||
| − | In late [[2003]], she was approached by [[television]] producer [[Russell T. Davies]] to contribute an episode to the British television science-fiction series ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Although she was "amused by the suggestion", she turned the offer down, as she was busy working on the next novel in the Potter series. On [[20 December]] [[2004]] she announced that the sixth Harry Potter book would be released on [[16 July]] [[2005]]. |
||
| − | |||
| − | [[Image:Jo_simpsons.jpg|right|thumb|JK on The Simpsons]] |
||
| − | Rowling has also made a guest appearance as herself on the American cartoon show ''[[The Simpsons]]'', in a special British-themed episode entitled "The Regina Monologues". |
||
| − | |||
| − | ===The Harry Potter books=== |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' ([[June 26]] [[1997]]) (titled ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' in the United States) |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' ([[1998]]) |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' ([[September 8]] [[1999]]) |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' ([[July 8]] [[2000]]) |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' ([[June 21]] [[2003]]) |
||
| − | *''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' ([[July 16]], [[2005]]) |
||
| − | |||
| − | ===Harry Potter-related books:=== |
||
| − | * ''[[Quidditch Through the Ages]]'' ([[2001]]) |
||
| − | * ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'' ([[2001]]) |
||
| − | |||
| − | The last two purport to be [[facsimile]]s of books mentioned in the novels. ''Fantastic Beasts'' is a textbook, while ''Quidditch'' is probably the most popular book in the Hogwart's library. They are complete with handwritten annotations and scribblings in the margins, and include introductions by [[Albus Dumbledore]]. All [[proceeds]] from them go to the UK [[Comic Relief]] charity. She has contributed money and support to many other charitable causes, especially research and treatment of [[multiple sclerosis]], from which her mother died in [[1990]]. This death heavily affected her writing, according to Rowling. |
||
| − | |||
| − | ===Harry Potter movies=== |
||
| − | A film version of ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (movie)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' was released in late [[2001]] and ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (movie)|Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' in [[2002]]. Both were directed by American film director [[Chris Columbus]]. |
||
| − | |||
| − | A darker atmosphere was adopted in the film version of ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (movie)|Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', attributed to the new director, [[Alfonso Cuarón]]. Rowling, who was a fan of Cuarón's work prior to the third film, has stated that the third film is her personal favorite. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Rowling resisted suggestions by the filmmakers that the movies should be filmed in the United States or cast with American actors (only one American appears in the first film). She only reluctantly went along with changing ''Philosopher's Stone'' to ''Sorcerer's Stone'', and limited it to the U.S. only. Rowling's insistence on British actors for the main roles resulted in [[Steven Spielberg]] passing on the opportunity to direct the series. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Rowling assists [[Steve Kloves]] in writing the scripts for the films, ensuring that his scripts do not contradict future books in the series. She says she has told him more about the later books than anybody else, but not everything. She has also said that she has told [[Alan Rickman]] and [[Robbie Coltrane]] certain secrets about their characters that are not yet revealed. |
||
| − | |||
| − | == Lawsuits == |
||
| − | Rowling has been involved in a [[lawsuit]] over the Harry Potter series, and other litigation has been suggested or rumoured. |
||
| − | |||
| − | === Nancy Stouffer === |
||
| − | In the late [[1990s]] [[Nancy Stouffer]], an author of children's books published in the [[1980s]], began to charge publicly that Rowling's books were based on her books, including ''The Legend of Rah and the Muggles'' and ''Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly''. |
||
| − | In [[2001]] Rowling, [[Scholastic Press]] (the American publisher of her books) and [[Warner Bros.]] (the producer of the film adaptations) sued Stouffer, asking the court to judge that there was no infringement of Stouffer's [[trademark]]s or [[copyright]]. Stouffer, who had not previously sued, then filed [[counterclaim|counterclaims]] alleging such infringement. |
||
| − | |||
| − | Rowling and her colitigants argued that much of the [[evidence]] that Stouffer presented was [[fraud|fraudulent]], and asked for sanctions and attorneys' fees as punishment. In September [[2002]] the court found in Rowling's favour, stating that Stouffer had lied to the court and falsified and [[forgery|forged]] documents to support her case. Stouffer was fined US$50,000 and ordered to pay part (but not all) of the plaintiffs' costs. |
||
| − | |||
| − | In [[January 2004]] it was reported that Stouffer's appeal against the judgement had been rejected. The appeals court agreed that Stouffer's claims were properly dismissed because "no reasonable juror could find a likelihood of confusion as to the source of the two parties' works". The Court explained: |
||
| − | <blockquote> ''Stouffer's and Plaintiffs' marks are used in two very different ways. Rowling's use of the term "Muggles" describes ordinary humans with no magical powers while Stouffer's "Muggles" are tiny, hairless creatures with elongated heads. Further, the Harry Potter books are novel-length works and whose primary customers are older children and adults whereas Stouffer's booklets appeal to young children. Accordingly, the District Court correctly dismissed Stouffer's trademark claims.''</blockquote> |
||
| − | |||
| − | Stouffer was also ordered to pay the costs of the appeal. A report of the judgement can be found at [http://www.entlawdigest.com/story.cfm?storyID=3094 Entertainment Law Digest]. The 2002 judgement can be found here: |
||
| − | [http://www.eyrie.org/~robotech/stouffer.htm ROWLING v. STOUFFER] |
||
| − | |||
| − | ===''New York Daily News''=== |
||
| − | On 19 June [[2003]] Rowling and her publisher Scholastic announced that they would sue the ''[[New York Daily News]]'' for $100 million because the [[newspaper]] had printed information on her work ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' before the book's official release date. The novel was due for release on Saturday 21 June, but the newspaper published a plot summary and short quotes on the previous Wednesday. An accompanying image even revealed two pages from the book with legible text. However, the story was complicated further when it was revealed that the paper had purchased the book from a health store whose owner received the novels wholesale and decided to place them in the window. The man claimed he was unaware he was supposed to wait until that Saturday. |
||
| − | |||
| − | == Family == |
||
| − | |||
| − | On [[26 December]] [[2001]], Rowling married Dr. Neil Murray (an [[anaesthetist]]) in a private ceremony at her home in the [[Perthshire]] village of [[Aberfeldy, Scotland|Aberfeldy]]. On [[23 March]] [[2003]], Rowling gave birth to her second child, a boy called David Gordon Rowling Murray, at the Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health at the New Royal Infirmary in [[Edinburgh]]. On [[23 January]] [[2005]], Rowling's second child by Dr. Murray was born, fulfilling Rowling's lifelong wish to have three children. The baby girl was named Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray. |
||
| − | |||
| − | == External links == |
||
| − | {{wikiquote}} |
||
| − | * [http://www.jkrowling.com/en English section of J.K. Rowling's official personal site] |
||
| − | * [http://www.edupaperback.org/showauth.cfm?authid=70 Rowling biography] |
||
| − | * [http://www.rowling.info An introduction to J.K. Rowling] |
||
| − | * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2268024.stm BBC news report on suit] |
||
| − | * "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1670067.stm Potter creator buys Scots hideaway]" - BBC News article, dated November 22, 2001 (reference) |
||
| − | * "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2883095.stm Baby joy for JK Rowling]" - BBC News article, dated March 24, 2003 (reference) |
||
| − | * "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/showbiz/2883059.stm Potter author has baby boy]" - BBC News article, dated March 25, 2003 (reference) |
||
| − | * {{isfdb name|id=J._K._Rowling|name=J. K. Rowling}} |
||
| − | * {{imdb name | id=0746830 | name=J.K. Rowling}} |
||
| − | |||
| ⚫ | |||
Revision as of 18:46, 24 July 2005
| Sirius Black | |
|---|---|
| Hair colour | Black |
| Eye colour | Grey |
| House | Gryffindor |
| Parentage | Pure-blood |
| Loyalty | The Order of the Phoenix |
Sirius Black (c. 1960 - c. 1996) was the last living member of the House of Black, living in Grimmauld Place, London. He had one brother, Regulus. Sirius attended Hogwarts, where he - unlike the rest of his family - was not sorted into Slytherin but Gryffindor. There he befriended James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew; he and James were described as exceptionally gifted students. B ecause of the notorious obsession with purity of blood in his family, Black often resolved to staying at James'. In his fifth year Black became an Animagus, to help restrain Lupin, who was a werewolf, acquiring the ability to turn himself into a large black dog at will. When James' son Harry was born, Sirius was named his godfather.
In 1981, James and his wife Lily went into hiding by means of the Fidelis charm; contrary to popular belief, Pettigrew, and not Black, was their Secretkeeper. After Pettigrew betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, Black tracked him down. Subsequently Pettigrew blew up the entire street, killing thirteen Muggle bystanders, changed himself into a rat and fled. Sirius was arrested for the murders of James, Lily, Pettigrew and the Muggles, convicted and sent to Azkaban for life. After twelve years of imprisonment he escaped in 1993, after having seen Pettigrew in the form of a rat on the shoulder of Percy Weasley in the Daily Prophet. Black managed to gain entrance to the heavily guarded Hogwarts through a secret passageway from Honeydukes to the castle, after which he once ripped up the painting of the Fat Lady and during a second break-in he gained entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, causing hysteria and panic.
Eventually he abducted Ronald Weasley to the Shrieking Shack with Pettigrew as Ron's rat, where Harry Potter and Hermione Granger followed him, believing Sirius was intent on killing Harry. Ultimately the situation was explained properly, but Pettigrew managed to escape and Sirius was once more arrested, and convicted to the Dementors Kiss. He was rescued by means of Buckbeak the Hippogriff, and sought sanctuary at his old home in London, which was later to function as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. In 1996 Sirius travelled with Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks to the Ministry of Magic, where the prophecy regarding Voldemort and Harry Potter had been retrieved by the latter and a fight had ensued between the Death Eaters and Harry and his friends. In the Department of Mysteries Black fought his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, who killed him. Albus Dumbledore retrieved his will, and accordingly Grimmauld Place and everything in it was passed onto Harry Potter.