what old time radio show was also made into tv

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was an American sitcom, which aired on ABC from October 3, 1952 through April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it continued its success, initially running simultaneously on radio and TV. The series starred Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson, and their sons, David and Eric "Ricky" Nelson. Don DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny".

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet

The Nelsons:

In the early 1930s, a booking at the Glen Island Casino gained national network radio exposure for Ozzie Nelson's orchestra. After three years together with the orchestra, Ozzie and Harriet signed to appear regularly on the radio show, The Baker's Broadcast (1933â€“1938), hosted first by Joe Penner, then by Robert L. Ripley, and finally by cartoonist Feg Murray. The couple married on October 8, 1935 during this series run, and realized working together in radio would keep them together more than continuing their musical careers separately.

In 1941, the Nelsons joined the cast of The Red Skelton Show, also providing much of the show's music. The couple stayed with the series for three years. They also built their radio experience by guest appearances, together and individually, on many top radio shows, from comedies such as The Fred Allen Show, to the mystery titan Suspense, in a 1947 episode called "Too Little to Live On".

When Red Skelton was drafted in March 1944, Ozzie Nelson was prompted to create his own family situation comedy.[2] The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet launched October 8, 1944 on CBS, it moved to NBC in October 1948, then made a late-season switch back to CBS in April 1949. The final years of the radio series were on ABC (the former NBC Blue Network) from October 14, 1949 to June 18, 1954. In total 402 radio episodes were produced. In an arrangement that exemplified the growing pains of American broadcasting, as radio "grew up" into television, the Nelsons' deal with ABC gave the network the option to move their program to television. The struggling network needed proven talent that was not about to defect to the more established and wealthier networks like CBS or NBC.[3]

The Nelsons' sons, David and Ricky, did not join the cast until the radio show's fifth year (initially appearing on the February 20, 1949 episode, ages 12 and 8, respectively). The two boys were played by professional actors prior to their joining because both were too young to perform.[3] The role of David was played by Joel Davis from 1944 until 1945 when he was replaced by Tommy Bernard. Henry Blair appeared as Ricky. Other cast members included John Brown as Syd "Thorny" Thornberry, Lurene Tuttle as Harriet's mother, Bea Benaderet as Gloria, Janet Waldo as Emmy Lou, and Francis "Dink" Trout as Roger. Vocalists included Harriet Nelson, The King Sisters, and Ozzie Nelson. The announcers were Jack Bailey and Verne Smith. The music was by Billy May and Ozzie Nelson. The producers were Dave Elton and Ozzie Nelson.[4] The show's sponsors included International Silver Company (1944–49), H.J. Heinz Company (1949–52) and Lambert Pharmacal's Listerine (1952–54).

In 1952, the Nelsons starred with Rock Hudson in the Universal-International feature film, Here Come the Nelsons. The film depicted Ozzie as an advertising executive assigned to a campaign promoting women's underwear. The film, produced in the summer of 1951 while the radio show was on hiatus, opened theatrically on February 23, 1952. It also doubled as a pilot for the television series, as Ozzie wanted to see if his family would be accepted on film as they were on radio. The success of Here Come the Nelsons convinced him that Ozzie & Harriet's future was on the small screen, while continuing their weekly radio show.

Before the show aired, Ozzie Nelson persuaded ABC to agree to a 10-year contract that paid the Nelsons whether the series was canceled or not. The unprecedented contract and Ozzie's insistence on perfection in the show's production paid off in the show's remarkable longevity.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet premiered on ABC on October 10, 1952, staying until April 23, 1966; in 1962, it became the first prime-time scripted series on American television to reach the 10-year milestone. The show strove for realism and featured exterior shots of the Nelsons' actual southern California home at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in Los Angeles as the fictional Nelsons' home. Interior shots were filmed on a Hollywood Center Studios sound stage recreated to look like the real interior of the Nelsons' home. Like its radio predecessor (which finally ended in 1954), the series focused mainly on the Nelson family at home, dealing with everyday problems. As the series progressed and the boys grew up, storylines involving various characters were introduced. Many of the series story lines were taken from the Nelsons' real life. When the real David and Rick got married, to June Blair and Kristin Harmon respectively, their wives joined the cast of Ozzie and Harriet and the marriages were written into the series. What was seldom written into the series was Ozzie's profession or mention of his lengthy and successful band-leading career. The popular joke about his career was that the only time he left the house was to go buy ice cream. According to his granddaughter, actress Tracy Nelson, Ozzie went to Rutgers to study law and when pressed would tell interviewers that the TV Ozzie was a lawyer.

By the mid-1960s, America's social climate was changing, and the Nelsons, symbolizing the 1950s values and ideals, were beginning to seem dated. Ozzie, who wrote and directed all of the series's episodes, attempted to alter the show to fit the times, but most viewers associated the show with a bygone era. The series cracked the top thirty programs in the Nielsen ratings for the first and only time in its eleventh season (1963–1964), when it ranked in 29th place. It made the transition from black-and-white to color in the 1965–66 season. That year, Ozzie tried to recapture the series's early success by introducing 9-year-old Joel Davison and other young children to relate to younger families. Although Davison appeared in three episodes, the show's Nielsen ratings continued to decline. In January 1966, ABC moved the series to Saturdays where it completed its 14-season run that spring.

Having run for a total of fourteen seasons, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet which averaged 29-30 episodes per season, remains the longest-running live-action American television sitcom.[5] On April 1, 2017, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia was renewed for a thirteenth and fourteenth season, which ties the record.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet made the Nelsons' younger son, Rick, into a music teen idol. Ozzie realized the impact his musically gifted son could bring to the series, and went on to write storylines featuring Rick singing. Rick first sang in the April 10, 1957, episode, "Ricky the Drummer," performing a version of Fats Domino's hit, "I'm Walkin", and later signed a recording contract with Domino's label, Imperial Records. Subsequent episodes that aired after Rick became one of the nation's most successful musicians were some of the show's highest-rated episodes.[6]

In the decades since the show's cancellation, the series has been continuously shown on stations in public domain prints. Between 1985 and 1994, The Disney Channel aired the show as remastered from original 35 mm film elements, with new introductions by Harriet Nelson.

The series was also aired on the Nostalgia TV Network and currently airs on the Retro Television Network (RTV) at 7:30 p.m. EST Monday–Friday.

PBS member station KVCR-TV in San Bernardino, California (in the Los Angeles market) aired the show as late as May 2010, connected to the station's nostalgic television series, I Remember Television.

Most of the pre-1964 episodes of the television series are in the public domain in the United States, except for the musical performances of Ricky Nelson included in the episodes (these are the exclusive and sole property of The Rick Nelson Company, LLC). Many episodes have been unofficially released on home video, including VHS and DVD, on many different low-budget company labels.[7] Sixteen DVDs containing episodes from the show are available from Alpha Video. One hundred of the episodes in the public domain have been released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment as part of the Essential Ozzie & Harriet Collection.

The Rick Nelson Company, LLC, currently owns the rights to the original film elements. An officially released video version of The Best of the Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet was released May 1, 2007, by Shout! Factory under license from The Rick Nelson Company. Both the Nelson company and David Nelson's trust hold copyright ownership for any new material derived from the film elements. Rick Nelson's son, Sam Nelson, currently heads a project to digitize all 435 episodes from the original 35mm network negatives and will include the show's original commercials. The collection's release on DVD/Blu-ray is scheduled for December 2014.

Episodes of the television series have been screened at the non-profit Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention held annually in Aberdeen, Maryland. 16Â mm prints were used.

Collector/historian Martin Grams, Jr., presently owns the production materials, scripts, casting call sheets, contracts, telegrams, letters and other materials significant to the radio and television series.

Author Jim Cox addressed the radio program's cultural significance in an article that appeared in SPERDVAC's Radiogram in early 2008.

In 1973, David Nelson produced a short-lived, syndicated spin-off entitled Ozzie's Girls, in which Ozzie and Harriet rented the boys' old room to two college students, portrayed by Susan Sennett and Brenda Sykes. Story lines centered around the Nelsons' attempts to solve the problems of two girls after having raised two boys.[8] The series's pilot episode was shown on NBC in September 1972, but the network passed on a weekly series. The unsold pilot, however, generated enough interest for Ozzie to bypass the network in favor of producing the show for syndication (through Viacom and Filmways).

Ozzie's Girls premiered on local stations, including New York's WABC-TV, in September 1973, but was cancelled in September 1974 after one season.

Ozzie Nelson continued to work in show business after the failure of the short lived sitcom Ozzie's Girls. He took on the role of producer and director for some of TV's popular shows, most notably: Adam-12, The D.A., and Bridget Loves Bernie. In 1975, Ozzie Nelson died of liver cancer at the age of 69.[9]

In the years after Ozzie and Harriet was cancelled, Rick Nelson's career and personal life changed drastically. Rick continued to record and perform music. He shied away from his teen idol image and sound, forming the rock and roll/country-fused Stone Canyon Band. Rick and the Stone Canyon Band had success with the 1972 single, "Garden Party". Rick and the Band wrote the song in response to having been booed off the stage at a rock and roll revival concert at Madison Square Garden after having refused to play his old hits. Throughout the 1970s, Rick was riddled with debt. In 1981, he and wife Kristin Harmon divorced. While touring the United States, Rick Nelson was killed in a plane accident on December 31, 1985, in DeKalb in Bowie County near Texarkana, Texas in northeast Texas. He was 45 years old. He was en route to a New Year's Eve concert in Dallas.[10] In 1987, Rick was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[11]

Following Ozzie's death in 1975, Harriet grew reclusive. In 1989, she made her last onscreen appearance in her granddaughter Tracy Nelson's TV series, Father Dowling Mysteries. Harriet never fully recovered from Rick's death and died of congestive heart failure and emphysema in 1994 at the age of 85.[12]

Ozzie, Harriet, and Rick are interred together at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery, in Los Angeles, California.

David Nelson continued to produce feature films and television commercials and owned his commercial production company until his death at age 74 from colorectal cancer in January 2011.[9]

The series attracted large audiences and became synonymous with the 1950s ideal American family life. Although it was never a top-ten hit, it remains, as noted above, tied for the longest-running live-action sitcom in US television history.[13]


where is the lighthouse in lighthouse point fl

Lighthouse Point is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. The city was named for the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse, which is located in nearby Hillsboro Beach. As of the 2010 census, the population of Lighthouse Point was 10,344. The city is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census.

Lighthouse Point, Florida

Lighthouse Point is located at 26°16′29″N 80°05′22″W / 26.274691°N 80.089414°W / 26.274691; -80.089414.[9] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6 km2), of which 2.29 square miles (6 km2) is land and.11 square miles (0 km2) (4.58%) is water.

Lighthouse Point is located in northeastern Broward County. It is adjacent to the following municipalities:

To its north:

To its east:

To its west and south:

As of 2010, there were 5,774 households out of which 15.1% were vacant. In 2000, 19.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.65.

In 2000, the city the population was spread out with 16.2% under the age of 18, 3.4% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 30.1% from 45 to 64, and 23.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $53,038, and the median income for a family was $72,418. Males had a median income of $51,897 versus $32,929 for females. The per capita income for the city was $40,839. About 2.6% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2000, speakers of English as their first language were 89.18%, while 4.64% spoke Spanish as theirs. Other languages spoken as a first language are Italian 1.93%, French 1.22%, German at 1.06%, while Portuguese being the mother tongue of 0.71% of all residents.[11]

Lighthouse Point is part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood media market, which is the twelfth largest radio market[12] and the seventeenth largest television market[13] in the United States. Its primary daily newspapers are the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald, and their Spanish-language counterparts El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald. Each house, apartment and business in Lighthouse Point receives the monthly, glossy, lifestyle magazine "Lighthouse Point" created and mailed by publishers Susan and Richard Rosser.

Broward County Public Schools serves the community.

Originally North Broward Preparatory School was located in the city. It was established there in 1957, but is no longer located in Lighthouse Point.[14]


who is the actor that plays tobias on ncis

Joseph Peter Spano (born July 7, 1946) is an American actor is best known for his role as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues. Spano is now best known for his work on NCIS as FBI Special Agent Tobias C. Fornell.

Joe Spano

Joe Spano was a member of the San Francisco improv group The Wing, and in college debuted as Paris in a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1967. In 1968, he helped found the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, appearing in its first production, and stayed with the company for 10 years. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1970s, landing guest shots on TV and bit roles in American Graffiti (1973) and The Enforcer (1976/I).

In Hill Street Blues he played Henry Goldblume during the entire seven-year run of the series, first as a detective sergeant, later as a lieutenant. Goldblume was one of Hill Street Precinct Captain Frank Furillo's trusted junior officers, serving at times as a hostage negotiator and gangs relations officer. The character was sympathetic to crime victims, sometimes coming in conflict with his duties as a police officer. Spano was one of many actors appearing through each episode, which typically had several interwoven story lines.

After Hill Street Blues ended, Spano won recurring roles in television police shows Murder One (1995) and NYPD Blue (1993), again as a detective, and has appeared regularly in 27 television movies and 20 television shows like The X-Files (episodes Tempus Fugit and Max), Mercy Point and Amazing Grace. Spano won the Emmy award in 1988 for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series for a role he played in an episode of Midnight Caller. He has appeared in 27 feature films, including working alongside Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 and Richard Gere and Edward Norton in Primal Fear. His credits are often confused with Australian actor Joseph Spano. They are not related.[1]

He is a veteran stage actor on the east and west coasts. Spano made his Broadway debut in 1992 in the Roundabout Theater revival of Arthur Miller's The Price, with Eli Wallach, which was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival. West coast stage credits include Eduardo Pavlovsky's Potestad, and David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and American Buffalo, for which he was awarded an LA Drama Critics Circle Award. At the Rubicon Theater in Ventura he has played General Burgoyne in Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, Greg in A. R. Gurney's Sylvia and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. He is a member of the Antaeus Theater Company and a founding member of three other theater companies.[2] He played a seductive vampire in the cult musical Dracula: A Musical Nightmare in a small LA theatre.[1] He also appeared in the TV movie Brotherhood of Justice with Keanu Reeves and Kiefer Sutherland.

Spano has been a recurring character in NCIS since its premiere episode, "Yankee White", playing FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell, the FBI counterpart to NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, portrayed by Mark Harmon. In Season 15, Fornell is no longer with the FBI, but is a private investigator. The on-screen rapport between the two actors has made Spano much more visible to viewers than his number of actual screen appearances would suggest. Spano is best known for straight dramatic roles but, in NCIS, has adapted to the comedic/drama style of the show. Spano's character, Fornell, holds rank in the FBI equivalent to that held by the NCIS main character, Gibbs. Thus Spano is given key lines and comic moments as a foil for Gibbs and, in some episodes, equal screentime with the main lead. The two characters usually address each other by their first names.

Two episodes have used the Fornells' personal life as the main crux of an NCIS episode: one where Fornell's daughter is imperiled and another where Fornell's career is imperiled. In each episode, it is the friendship between Gibbs and Fornell which is invoked in order to involve NCIS in the resolution of an FBI agent's crisis. Further indicating his status on the show, Spano's Fornell was written into the Gibbs backstory, by having Fornell been married to Gibbs' first ex-wife, linking their private lives as well as their professional lives and further establishing their equivalence of status. Spano's character has also been involved in operations run by other agencies, including both Homeland Security and the CIA, as the liaison between those agencies and NCIS.

Notable episodes of NCIS, featuring Spano in a prime role, include the Episode 1, Season 1 "Yankee White", Episode 2 of Season 4 "Escaped", as well as episodes titled "Seadog", "Enigma", "Reveille", "The Boneyard", "Conspiracy Theory", "Twilight", "Kill Ari: Part 2", "Under Covers", "Frame up", "Smoked", "Brothers in Arms" and "Angel of Death", all of which are available for searching on the NCIS pages. Spano continued to appear in season 5 of NCIS, starting with "Identity Crisis" about an FBI operation gone wrong and "Internal Affairs" when NCIS is being investigated for murder. In season 6, he appears in the episodes "Nine Lives" and "Semper Fidelis". In season 7, he appears in the episodes "Jack-Knife" and "Moonlighting". He continues to appear in the following seasons as well, in the episodes "Short Fuse" and "Tell-All" (both season 8), "Devil's Triangle", and "Life Before His Eyes" (both season 9), "Extreme Prejudice", "Devil's Trifecta", "Damned If You Do" (all season 10), and "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot", "Past, Present, and Future", "Devil's Triad", "Crescent City (Part I)", and "Crescent City (Part II)" (all season 11), "Cabin Fever" (season 12), "Dead Letter" and "Family First" (season 13), "Privleged Information" (season 14), and "Burden of Proof", "Keep Your Friends Close" (Fornell is no longer with the FBI as of this episode) and "Keep Your Enemies Closer" [3] (all season 15).

Spano was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Virginia Jean (nÃ©e Carpenter) and Vincent Dante Spano, a physician.[4] He graduated from Archbishop Riordan High School in 1963, and he is an honorary member of the House of Russi. Spano and his wife Joan Zerrien, a therapist, were married in 1980. They have two adopted daughters.


is the new macgyver the old macgyver's son

Angus MacGyver (known as just MacGyver, or Mac) is a title character and the protagonist in the ABC television series MacGyver. He is played by Richard Dean Anderson. MacGyver works as a problem solver for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles. Educated as a scientist and with a background from a fictional United States government agency, the Department of External Services (DXS), he is a resourceful secret agent able to solve a range of problems. In addition to his scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items, he always carries a Swiss Army knife and a roll of duct tape. He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry a gun but will sometimes use one (such as the AK47 rifle that he used briefly in the pilot episode). Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the rebooted 2016 TV series.[1]

Angus MacGyver

The character is portrayed as a non-violent problem solver. He eschews the use of guns, although the pilot episode shows him using a gun on a mission shown in the opening gambit. Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self-defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing. He is often suspicious of militaristic attitudes within the government; he sees his Phoenix Foundation employer as an alternative to the more conventional (and violent) means of law enforcement.[citation needed]

MacGyver is also passionate about social causes, having on several occasions volunteered to help the less-privileged, showing a particular affinity for and connection with children. For example, he is shown to be a "big brother" [2] and conducts hearing research at a school for deaf children,[3] and helps out in a mountain excursion for delinquent youths.[4] He also strives to protect the environment and endangered species such as eagles,[5] the black rhino,[6] and wolves.[7] It is also established in the episode "Walking Dead" [8] that he became a vegetarian some time during the series run (which had been hinted at before).

MacGyver's persistence and the improvisational nature of his plans make him difficult to thwart, as his nemesis Murdoc pointed out, because not even MacGyver himself knows what he's going to do next. Unlike stereotypical "macho" or stoic action heroes, MacGyver exhibits grief in the face of tragedies, open fear in perilous situations, and shows pain after a fight.[9] A sensitive character, Mac has a tendency to blame himself for personal losses and tragedies, like his bad conscience for not being at his mother's deathbed and funeral when he was on a mission in Afghanistan, on one occasion giving up sport car racing after his involvement in a fatal crash, and experiencing a bout of depression after a fatal climbing accident. However, overcoming challenges and successfully saving lives has given him redemption on several occasions. He also appears to be susceptible to remote temporal retrograde amnesia, which he has experienced more than once after physical head trauma.

MacGyver is proficient to a greater or lesser extent in Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish,[10] and American Sign Language, and knows how to use International maritime signal flags and Morse code.[11] He's an avid outdoorsman with skills including snow skiing, and outdoor survivalism. Despite his acute fear of heights, he's highly skilled at mountain / rock climbing, hang gliding, and parachuting - static line and ripcord / HALO. His other hobbies include ice hockey, racing, and has shown an interest in the arts of painting and guitar, as shown in the episode "The Negotiator". The guitar is an instrument he's played since he was a child, as stated in "The Madonna".

His (iconic) haircut is a "mullet", in a clean-cut, lightly gelled variation on the classic hairstyle.

While never being in an actual relationship, he is always on good terms with his past acquaintances, of which there are many.

MacGyver's first name was at first intended to be Stacey, as seen in a press release from Paramount.[12] However, it was never confirmed in any episode, and remained a mystery until the seventh season; whenever he is asked about it, he says he dislikes his first name and quickly changes the subject. His grandfather, Harry Jackson, calls him "Bud" or "Buddy". Most of his friends and colleagues call him by his last name MacGyver or simply "Mac". His first name is finally canonically revealed in "Good Knight, MacGyver", in which he learns of a 7th-century man named Angus M'Iver ("son of Ingmarr") and admits that they share their first name. This revelation is repeated in the series finale, which introduces MacGyver's son as having the middle name Angus, as well as on the packaging of the MacGyver DVD season sets.

He was born on March 23, 1951,[13] and raised in Mission City, Minnesota. When MacGyver was a kid, he was in the Cub Scouts and a Den Mother by the name of Mrs. Fryfogel taught him "backwoods common sense" and the motto "Be prepared."[14] In 1961, when he was a ten-year-old, his grandmother and father (James MacGyver played by actor Martin Milner of Adam-12 fame) in the MacGyver episode entitled, "Passages", were killed in a car accident in which they both drowned, and MacGyver grew up with his mother. In the episode "Runners", however, MacGyver states he was 7 years old when the accident occurred. His grandfather, Harry Jackson (who calls him "Bud"), played by actor John Anderson, acted as his father, but moved away in 1967 when MacGyver was sixteen, worked for a period in Alaska, sending money to MacGyver and his mother, and eventually settled down as a farmer in Minnesota after MacGyver had left.[15] When he was ten years old he got his first chemistry set.[16] At about 12 years of age, MacGyver had a traumatic experience with the accidental death of friend Jesse by a bullet from a falling gun.[17] Throughout his childhood, in his youth and in adult age, MacGyver is an active player of ice hockey, having played in his local hockey leagues and coached for a minor league team; he is also a supporter of the Calgary Flames.[18] He feels that he could have made the National Hockey League, but chose to give up before he was good enough.[19] MacGyver also admitted to loving museums as a kid.[20] In his childhood, he met Jack Dalton. MacGyver's mother died of a stroke while he was in Afghanistan.[21]

After high school MacGyver went to Western Tech where he graduated in 1973 with Bachelor's degrees in physics and chemistry, having studied under Julian Ryman, a man who also had an ability to fix things with everyday objects and was probably influential on MacGyver.[22] After graduating from college he turns down an offer to work at the nearby nuclear power plant and it is revealed that he had shortly served during the Vietnam War in a bomb defusing team.[23] MacGyver has also been an enthusiastic race car driver and was quite successful before an accident put him out of the business. Five years prior to the start of the series MacGyver was occupied as a "Hell Fighter," fighting oil well fires in Sumatra.[24] Eventually he moves to Los Angeles where he has a number of scatter jobs, including working as a taxi driver for Jack, until 1979, when he accidentally meets Peter Thornton, an agent at the Department of External Services (DXS). When MacGyver conveniently saves Thornton's life using a paper clip, a wrench and shoelaces, MacGyver is also offered a job as a field agent at the DXS.[25] He keeps this job until 1986 (season 2 pilot) when Pete is offered a job as Director of Operations at the Phoenix Foundation. MacGyver follows him and works in a similar role for the Foundation for the next six years, finally leaving in 1992.

At the Foundation, MacGyver is hired as a "sort of troubleshooter",[26] involved in a variety of tasks, usually field operations (conducting environmental surveys, testing security systems). In the fifth season, Harry dies of a heart attack,[27] at which point MacGyver believes he has no remaining relatives.[28] In the second last episode of the show, it turns out that MacGyver has a son, Sean "Sam" Angus Malloy. Sean's mother is the photojournalist Kate Malloy who MacGyver had met after college. Kate had been murdered in China several years prior to MacGyver meeting their son for the first time. After discovering and reuniting with Sean, MacGyver decides to resign from the Foundation, as he and his son have a lot of catching-up to do.[29]

Two television movies featuring the character followed the series. In the first one ("MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis"), MacGyver teams up with his former college Archaeology instructor, Professor Atticus, to help him prove his theories about ancient Atlantis while dodging the bullets of genocidal Yugoslav troops, a Greek revolutionary and a ruthless treasure hunter. Soon thereafter (in "MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday"), he investigates the murder of a friend in Britain, and eventually traces it to an unscrupulous businessman who sells nuclear arms research for profit. Both adventures occurred in 1994. No mention is made of MacGyver's son, nor of Pete Thornton, Jack Dalton or any of the show's regulars.

MacGyver's maternal grandfather, Harry Jackson, is introduced in season 1 played by John Anderson.[30] MacGyver's family is rarely seen. His grandfather appears in a few episodes. He usually calls MacGyver "Bud," but why is never revealed.[31] In a flashback during the episode "Phoenix Under Siege" S2E11, MacGyver's grandfather talks to his wife and MacGyver talks to his father. In the second to last episode (The Stinger), it is revealed that he has a son he never knew about, and in the end the two of them ride off into the sunset on a motorcycle. In the episodes that include this character, it is stated that Mac's father, James MacGyver, and maternal grandmother died when their car went off the road and they drowned in a creek on December 14 of an unspecified year.[32] Harry had cut ties with Mac and his mom, and was living a life of solitude until MacGyver came to him while trying to keep a low profile due to a bounty on his head.[33] His mother died from a stroke the day after an unspecified Christmas, but Mac was not able to make it home to see her.[34]

MacGyver's most used item was his Swiss Army Knife. In addition to it, MacGyver often carried a roll of duct tape in his back pocket, flattened out to make it fit. Other items he often seemed to have on hand were: an ID card, a watch, strike-anywhere matches, a few paper clips, chewing gum, and a flashlight. It was shown that he also carried a toolbox in his Jeep.[35]

MacGyver initially used a Jeep Cherokee and then a Jeep Wrangler beginning with Season 2. But in Season 5, Episode 3 ("The Black Corsage"), he began driving his grandfather Harry's "classic" 1946 Chevrolet pickup truck.

The term "MacGyver" has now become part of the colloquial American English lexicon. When one "MacGyvers" a solution to a problem, one finds a simple yet elegant solution to something using existing resources.[36][37] This is in contrast to a kludge, or a Rube Goldberg, which is generally complicated and problematic.


what organ contains bacteria that help produce vitamin k

Bacteria in the gut flora can also convert K1 into vitamin K2 (menaquinone). In addition, bacteria typically lengthen the isoprenoid side chain of vitamin K2 to produce a range of vitamin K2 forms, most notably the MK-7 to MK-11 homologues of vitamin K2. All forms of K2 other than MK-4 can only be produced by bacteria, which use these forms in anaerobic respiration. The MK-7 and other bacterially derived forms of vitamin K2 exhibit vitamin K activity in animals, but MK-7's extra utility over MK-4, if any, is unclear and is a matter of investigation.

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is a group of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamins the human body requires for complete synthesis of certain proteins that are prerequisites for blood coagulation (K from Koagulation, Danish for "coagulation") and which the body also needs for controlling binding of calcium in bones and other tissues.[1] The vitamin K-related modification of the proteins allows them to bind calcium ions, which they cannot do otherwise. Without vitamin K, blood coagulation is seriously impaired, and uncontrolled bleeding occurs. Preliminary clinical research indicates that deficiency of vitamin K may weaken bones, potentially leading to osteoporosis, and may promote calcification of arteries and other soft tissues.[1]

Chemically, the vitamin K family comprises 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (3-) derivatives. Vitamin K includes two natural vitamers: vitamin K1 and vitamin K2.[2] Vitamin K2, in turn, consists of a number of related chemical subtypes, with differing lengths of carbon side chains made of isoprenoid groups of atoms.

Vitamin K1, also known as phylloquinone, is made by plants, and is found in highest amounts in green leafy vegetables because it is directly involved in photosynthesis. It may be thought of as the plant form of vitamin K. It is active as a vitamin in animals and performs the classic functions of vitamin K, including its activity in the production of blood-clotting proteins. Animals may also convert it to vitamin K2.

Because a synthetic form of vitamin K, vitamin K3 (menadione), may be toxic by interfering with the function of glutathione, it is no longer used to treat vitamin K deficiency.[1]

A review of 2014 concluded that there is positive evidence that monotherapy using MK-4, one of the forms of Vitamin K2, reduces fracture incidence in post-menopausal women with osteoporosis, and suggested further research on the combined use of MK-4 with bisphosphonates. In contrast, an earlier review article of 2013 concluded that there is no good evidence that vitamin K supplementation helps prevent osteoporosis or fractures in postmenopausal women.[3]

A Cochrane systematic review of 2006 suggested that supplementation with Vitamin K1 and with MK4 reduces bone loss; in particular, a strong effect of MK-4 on incident fractures among Japanese patients was emphasized.[4]

A review article of 2016 suggested to consider, as one of several measures for bone health, increasing the intake of foods rich in vitamins K1 and K2.[5]

Adequate intake of vitamin K is associated with the inhibition of arterial calcification and stiffening,[6] but there have been few interventional studies and no good evidence that vitamin K supplementation is of any benefit in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.[7]

One 10-year population study, the Rotterdam Study, did show a clear and significant inverse relationship between the highest intake levels of menaquinone (mainly MK-4 from eggs and meat, and MK-8 and MK-9 from cheese) and cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in older men and women.[8]

Vitamin K has been promoted in supplement form with claims it can slow tumor growth; there is however no good medical evidence that supports such claims.[9]

Vitamin K is one of the treatments for bleeding events caused by overdose of the anticoagulant drug warfarin (CoumadinÂ®).[10] Vitamin K is also part of the suggested treatment regime for poisoning by rodenticide (coumarin poisoning).[11]

Although allergic reaction from supplementation is possible, no known toxicity is associated with high doses of the phylloquinone (vitamin K1) or menaquinone (vitamin K2) forms of vitamin K, so no tolerable upper intake level (UL) has been set.[12]

Blood clotting (coagulation) studies in humans using 45 mg per day of vitamin K2 (as MK-4)[13] and even up to 135 mg per day (45 mg three times daily) of K2 (as MK-4),[14] showed no increase in blood clot risk. Even doses in rats as high as 250 mg/kg, body weight did not alter the tendency for blood-clot formation to occur.[15]

Unlike the safe natural forms of vitamin K1 and vitamin K2 and their various isomers, a synthetic form of vitamin K, vitamin K3 (menadione), is demonstrably toxic at high levels. The U.S. FDA has banned this form from over-the-counter sale in the United States because large doses have been shown to cause allergic reactions, hemolytic anemia, and cytotoxicity in liver cells.[1]

Phylloquinone (K1)[16][17] or menaquinone (K2) are capable of reversing the anticoagulant activity of the anticoagulant warfarin (tradename Coumadin). Warfarin works by blocking recycling of vitamin K, so that the body and tissues have lower levels of active vitamin K, and thus a deficiency of vitamin K.

Supplemental vitamin K (for which oral dosing is often more active than injectable dosing in human adults) reverses the vitamin K deficiency caused by warfarin, and therefore reduces the intended anticoagulant action of warfarin and related drugs.[18] Sometimes small amounts of vitamin K are given orally to patients taking warfarin so that the action of the drug is more predictable.[18] The proper anticoagulant action of the drug is a function of vitamin K intake and drug dose, and due to differing absorption must be individualized for each patient.[citation needed] The action of warfarin and vitamin K both require two to five days after dosing to have maximum effect, and neither warfarin or vitamin K shows much effect in the first 24 hours after they are given.[19]

The newer anticoagulants dabigatran and rivaroxaban have different mechanisms of action that do not interact with vitamin K, and may be taken with supplemental vitamin K.[20][21]

The three synthetic forms of vitamin K are vitamins K3 (menadione), K4, and K5, which are used in many areas, including the pet food industry (vitamin K3) and to inhibit fungal growth (vitamin K5).[22]

The MK-4 form of vitamin K2 is produced by conversion of vitamin K1 in the testes, pancreas, and arterial walls.[23] While major questions still surround the biochemical pathway for this transformation, the conversion is not dependent on gut bacteria, as it occurs in germ-free rats[24][25] and in parenterally-administered K1 in rats.[26][27] In fact, tissues that accumulate high amounts of MK-4 have a remarkable capacity to convert up to 90% of the available K1 into MK-4.[28][29] There is evidence that the conversion proceeds by removal of the phytyl tail of K1 to produce menadione as an intermediate, which is then condensed with an activated geranylgeranyl moiety (see also prenylation) to produce vitamin K2 in the MK-4 (menatetrenone) form.[30]

Vitamin K2 (menaquinone) includes several subtypes. The two subtypes most studied are menaquinone-4 (menatetrenone, MK-4) and menaquinone-7 (MK-7).

Vitamin K1, the precursor of most vitamin K in nature, is a stereoisomer of phylloquinone, an important chemical in green plants, where it functions as an electron acceptor in photosystem I during photosynthesis. For this reason, vitamin K1 is found in large quantities in the photosynthetic tissues of plants (green leaves, and dark green leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce, kale and spinach), but it occurs in far smaller quantities in other plant tissues (roots, fruits, etc.). Iceberg lettuce contains relatively little. The function of phylloquinone in plants appears to have no resemblance to its later metabolic and biochemical function (as "vitamin K") in animals, where it performs a completely different biochemical reaction.

Vitamin K (in animals) is involved in the carboxylation of certain glutamate residues in proteins to form gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residues. The modified residues are often (but not always) situated within specific protein domains called Gla domains. Gla residues are usually involved in binding calcium, and are essential for the biological activity of all known Gla proteins.[31]

At this time[update], 17 human proteins with Gla domains have been discovered, and they play key roles in the regulation of three physiological processes:

Like other lipid-soluble vitamins (A, D and E), vitamin K is stored in the fatty tissue of the human body.

Previous theory held that dietary deficiency is extremely rare unless the small intestine was heavily damaged, resulting in malabsorption of the molecule. Another at-risk group for deficiency were those subject to decreased production of K2 by normal intestinal microbiota, as seen in broad spectrum antibiotic use.[39] Taking broad-spectrum antibiotics can reduce vitamin K production in the gut by nearly 74% in people compared with those not taking these antibiotics.[40] Diets low in vitamin K also decrease the body's vitamin K concentration.[41] Those with chronic kidney disease are at risk for vitamin K deficiency, as well as vitamin D deficiency, and particularly those with the apoE4 genotype.[42] Additionally, in the elderly there is a reduction in vitamin K2.[43]

The U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) updated Estimated Average Requirements (EARs) and Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for vitamin K in 1998. The IOM does not distinguish between K1 and K2 – both are counted as vitamin K. At that time there was not sufficient information to establish EARs and RDAs for vitamin K. In instances such as this, the Board sets Adequate Intakes (AIs), with the understanding that at some later date, AIs will be replaced by more exact information. The current AIs for adult women and men ages 19 and up are 90 and 120 μg/day, respectively. AI for pregnancy is 90 μg/day. AI for lactation is 90 μg/day. For infants up to 12 months the AI is 2-2.5 μg/day For children ages 1–18 years the AI increases with age from 30 to 75 μg/day. As for safety, the IOM sets Tolerable upper intake levels (known as ULs) for vitamins and minerals when evidence is sufficient. In the case of vitamin K there is no UL, as there is not sufficient human data for adverse effects from high doses. Collectively the EARs, RDAs, AIs and ULs are referred to as Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).[44]

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) refers to the collective set of information as Dietary Reference Values, with Population Reference Intake (PRI) instead of RDA, and Average Requirement instead of EAR. AI and UL defined the same as in United States. For women and men over age 18 the Adequate Intake (AI) is set at 70 μg/day. AI for pregnancy is 70 μg/day, for lactation 70 μg/day. For children ages 1–17 years the AIs increase with age from 12 to 65 μg/day. These AIs are lower than the U.S. RDAs.[45] The EFSA also reviewed the safety question and reached the same conclusion as in United States - that there was not sufficient evidence to set a UL for vitamin K.[46]

For U.S. food and dietary supplement labeling purposes the amount in a serving is expressed as a percent of Daily Value (%DV). For vitamin K labeling purposes 100% of the Daily Value was 80 μg, but as of May 27, 2016 it was revised upwards to 120 μg to bring it into agreement with the AI.[47] A table of the old and new adult Daily Values is provided at Reference Daily Intake. The original deadline to be in compliance was July 28, 2018, but on September 29, 2017 the FDA released a proposed rule that extended the deadline to January 1, 2020 for large companies and January 1, 2021 for small companies.[48]

Vitamin K1 is found chiefly in leafy green vegetables such as spinach, swiss chard, lettuce and Brassica vegetables (such as cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts) and often the absorption is greater when accompanied by fats such as butter or oils. Some fruits, such as avocados, kiwifruit and grapes, are also high in vitamin K. Some vegetable oils, notably soybean oil, contain vitamin K, but at levels that would require relatively large calorie consumption to meet the recommended amounts.[51]

The tight binding of vitamin K1 to thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts makes it less bioavailable. For example, cooked spinach has a 5% bioavailability of phylloquinone, however, fat added to it increases bioavailability to 13% due to the increased solubility of vitamin K in fat.[52]

Average diets are usually not lacking in vitamin K, and primary deficiency is rare in healthy adults. Newborn infants are at an increased risk of deficiency. Other populations with an increased prevalence of vitamin K deficiency include those who suffer from liver damage or disease (e.g. alcoholics), cystic fibrosis, or inflammatory bowel diseases, or have recently had abdominal surgeries. Secondary vitamin K deficiency can occur in people with bulimia, those on stringent diets, and those taking anticoagulants. Other drugs associated with vitamin K deficiency include salicylates, barbiturates, and cefamandole, although the mechanisms are still unknown. Vitamin K1 deficiency can result in coagulopathy, a bleeding disorder.[53]Symptoms of K1 deficiency include anemia, bruising, nosebleeds and bleeding of the gums in both sexes, and heavy menstrual bleeding in women.

Osteoporosis[54][55] and coronary heart disease[56][57] are strongly associated with lower levels of K2 (menaquinone). Vitamin K2 (as menaquinones MK-4 through MK-10) intake level is inversely related to severe aortic calcification and all-cause mortality.[8]

The function of vitamin K2 in the animal cell is to add a carboxylic acid functional group to a glutamate (Glu) amino acid residue in a protein, to form a gamma-carboxyglutamate (Gla) residue. This is a somewhat uncommon posttranslational modification of the protein, which is then known as a "Gla protein". The presence of two âˆ’COOH (carboxylic acid) groups on the same carbon in the gamma-carboxyglutamate residue allows it to chelate calcium ions. The binding of calcium ions in this way very often triggers the function or binding of Gla-protein enzymes, such as the so-called vitamin K-dependent clotting factors discussed below.

Within the cell, vitamin K undergoes electron reduction to a reduced form called vitamin K hydroquinone, catalyzed by the enzyme vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR).[58] Another enzyme then oxidizes vitamin K hydroquinone to allow carboxylation of Glu to Gla; this enzyme is called gamma-glutamyl carboxylase[59][60] or the vitamin K-dependent carboxylase. The carboxylation reaction only proceeds if the carboxylase enzyme is able to oxidize vitamin K hydroquinone to vitamin K epoxide at the same time. The carboxylation and epoxidation reactions are said to be coupled. Vitamin K epoxide is then reconverted to vitamin K by VKOR. The reduction and subsequent reoxidation of vitamin K coupled with carboxylation of Glu is called the vitamin K cycle.[61] Humans are rarely deficient in vitamin K1 because, in part, vitamin K1 is continuously recycled in cells.[62]

Warfarin and other 4-hydroxycoumarins block the action of VKOR.[63] This results in decreased concentrations of vitamin K and vitamin K hydroquinone in tissues, such that the carboxylation reaction catalyzed by the glutamyl carboxylase is inefficient. This results in the production of clotting factors with inadequate Gla. Without Gla on the amino termini of these factors, they no longer bind stably to the blood vessel endothelium and cannot activate clotting to allow formation of a clot during tissue injury. As it is impossible to predict what dose of warfarin will give the desired degree of clotting suppression, warfarin treatment must be carefully monitored to avoid overdose.

The following human Gla-containing proteins ("Gla proteins") have been characterized to the level of primary structure: blood coagulation factors II (prothrombin), VII, IX, and X, anticoagulant proteins C and S, and the factor X-targeting protein Z. The bone Gla protein osteocalcin, the calcification-inhibiting matrix Gla protein (MGP), the cell growth regulating growth arrest specific gene 6 protein (Gas6), and the four transmembrane Gla proteins (TMGPs), the function of which is at present unknown. Gas6 can function as a growth factor to activate the Axl receptor tyrosine kinase and stimulate cell proliferation or prevent apoptosis in some cells. In all cases in which their function was known, the presence of the Gla residues in these proteins turned out to be essential for functional activity.

Gla proteins are known to occur in a wide variety of vertebrates: mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. The venom of a number of Australian snakes acts by activating the human blood-clotting system. In some cases, activation is accomplished by snake Gla-containing enzymes that bind to the endothelium of human blood vessels and catalyze the conversion of procoagulant clotting factors into activated ones, leading to unwanted and potentially deadly clotting.

Another interesting class of invertebrate Gla-containing proteins is synthesized by the fish-hunting snail Conus geographus.[64] These snails produce a venom containing hundreds of neuroactive peptides, or conotoxins, which is sufficiently toxic to kill an adult human. Several of the conotoxins contain two to five Gla residues.[65]

Vitamin K status can be assessed by:

Many bacteria, such as Escherichia coli found in the large intestine, can synthesize vitamin K2 (menaquinone-7 or MK-7, up to MK-11),[73] but not vitamin K1 (phylloquinone). In these bacteria, menaquinone transfers two electrons between two different small molecules, during oxygen-independent metabolic energy production processes (anaerobic respiration).[74] For example, a small molecule with an excess of electrons (also called an electron donor) such as lactate, formate, or NADH, with the help of an enzyme, passes two electrons to menaquinone. The menaquinone, with the help of another enzyme, then transfers these two electrons to a suitable oxidant, such fumarate or nitrate (also called an electron acceptor). Adding two electrons to fumarate or nitrate converts the molecule to succinate or nitrite plus water, respectively.

Some of these reactions generate a cellular energy source, ATP, in a manner similar to eukaryotic cell aerobic respiration, except the final electron acceptor is not molecular oxygen, but fumarate or nitrate. In aerobic respiration, the final oxidant is molecular oxygen (O2), which accepts four electrons from an electron donor such as NADH to be converted to water. E. coli, as facultative anaerobes, can carry out both aerobic respiration and menaquinone-mediated anaerobic respiration.

The blood clotting factors of newborn babies are roughly 30–60% that of adult values; this may be due to the reduced synthesis of precursor proteins and the sterility of their guts. Human milk contains 1–4 μg/L of vitamin K1, while formula-derived milk can contain up to 100 μg/L in supplemented formulas. Vitamin K2 concentrations in human milk appear to be much lower than those of vitamin K1. Occurrence of vitamin K deficiency bleeding in the first week of the infant's life is estimated at 0.25–1.7%, with a prevalence of 2–10 cases per 100,000 births.[75] Premature babies have even lower levels of the vitamin, so they are at a higher risk from this deficiency.

Bleeding in infants due to vitamin K deficiency can be severe, leading to hospitalization, blood transfusions, brain damage, and death. Supplementation can prevent most cases of vitamin K deficiency bleeding in the newborn. Intramuscular administration is more effective in preventing late vitamin K deficiency bleeding than oral administration.[76][77]

As a result of the occurrences of vitamin K deficiency bleeding, the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended 0.5–1 mg of vitamin K1 be administered to all newborns shortly after birth.[77]

In the UK vitamin K supplementation is recommended for all newborns within the first 24 hours.[78] This is usually given as a single intramuscular injection of 1Â mg shortly after birth but as a second-line option can be given by three oral doses over the first month.[79]

Controversy arose in the early 1990s regarding this practice, when two studies suggested a relationship between parenteral administration of vitamin K and childhood cancer,[80] however, poor methods and small sample sizes led to the discrediting of these studies, and a review of the evidence published in 2000 by Ross and Davies found no link between the two.[81] Doctors reported emerging concerns in 2013,[82] after treating children for serious bleeding problems. They cited lack of newborn vitamin K administration as the reason that the problems occurred, and recommended that breastfed babies could have an increased risk unless they receive a preventative dose.

In the early 1930s, Danish scientist Henrik Dam investigated the role of cholesterol by feeding chickens a cholesterol-depleted diet.[83] He initially replicated experiments reported by scientists at the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).[84] McFarlane, Graham and Richardson, working on the chick feed program at OAC, had used chloroform to remove all fat from chick chow. They noticed that chicks fed only fat-depleted chow developed hemorrhages and started bleeding from tag sites.[85] Dam found that these defects could not be restored by adding purified cholesterol to the diet. It appeared that – together with the cholesterol – a second compound had been extracted from the food, and this compound was called the coagulation vitamin. The new vitamin received the letter K because the initial discoveries were reported in a German journal, in which it was designated as Koagulationsvitamin. Edward Adelbert Doisy of Saint Louis University did much of the research that led to the discovery of the structure and chemical nature of vitamin K.[86] Dam and Doisy shared the 1943 Nobel Prize for medicine for their work on vitamin K (K1 and K2) published in 1939. Several laboratories synthesized the compound(s) in 1939.[87]

For several decades, the vitamin K-deficient chick model was the only method of quantifying vitamin K in various foods: the chicks were made vitamin K-deficient and subsequently fed with known amounts of vitamin K-containing food. The extent to which blood coagulation was restored by the diet was taken as a measure for its vitamin K content. Three groups of physicians independently found this: Biochemical Institute, University of Copenhagen (Dam and Johannes Glavind), University of Iowa Department of Pathology (Emory Warner, Kenneth Brinkhous, and Harry Pratt Smith), and the Mayo Clinic (Hugh Butt, Albert Snell, and Arnold Osterberg).[88]

The first published report of successful treatment with vitamin K of life-threatening hemorrhage in a jaundiced patient with prothrombin deficiency was made in 1938 by Smith, Warner, and Brinkhous.[89]

The precise function of vitamin K was not discovered until 1974, when three laboratories (Stenflo et al.,[90] Nelsestuen et al.,[91] and Magnusson et al.[92]) isolated the vitamin K-dependent coagulation factor prothrombin (factor II) from cows that received a high dose of a vitamin K antagonist, warfarin. It was shown that, while warfarin-treated cows had a form of prothrombin that contained 10 glutamate (Glu) amino acid residues near the amino terminus of this protein, the normal (untreated) cows contained 10 unusual residues that were chemically identified as Î³-carboxyglutamate (Gla). The extra carboxyl group in Gla made clear that vitamin K plays a role in a carboxylation reaction during which Glu is converted into Gla.


who introduced blank verse into england in the 16th century

The first documented use of blank verse in the English language was by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey in his translation of the Æneid (composed c. 1540; published 1554–1557[4]). He was possibly inspired by the Latin original, as classical Latin verse (as well as Ancient Greek verse) did not use rhyme; or he may have been inspired by the Italian verse form of versi sciolti, which also contained no rhyme.

Blank verse

Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter.[1] It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century",[2] and Paul Fussell has estimated that "about three quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse".[3]

The play Arden of Faversham (around 1590 by an unknown author) is a notable example of end-stopped blank verse.

The 1561 play Gorboduc by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville was the first English play to use blank verse.

Christopher Marlowe was the first English author to make full use of the potential[clarification needed] of blank verse. The major achievements in English blank verse were made by William Shakespeare, who wrote much of the content of his plays in unrhymed iambic pentameter, and John Milton, whose Paradise Lost is written in blank verse. Miltonic blank verse was widely imitated in the 18th century by such poets as James Thomson (in The Seasons) and William Cowper (in The Task). Romantic English poets such as William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and John Keats used blank verse as a major form. Shortly afterwards, Alfred, Lord Tennyson became particularly devoted to blank verse, using it for example in his long narrative poem "The Princess", as well as for one of his most famous poems: "Ulysses". Among American poets, Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens are notable for using blank verse in extended compositions at a time when many other poets were turning to free verse.

Marlowe and then Shakespeare developed its potential greatly in the late 16th century. Marlowe was the first to exploit the potential of blank verse for powerful and involved speech:

You stars that reign'd at my nativity,
Whose influence hath allotted death and hell,
Now draw up Faustus like a foggy mist
Into the entrails of yon labouring clouds,
That when they vomit forth into the air,
My limbs may issue from their smoky mouths,
So that my soul may but ascend to Heaven.

Shakespeare developed this feature, and also the potential of blank verse for abrupt and irregular speech. For example, in this exchange from King John, one blank verse line is broken between two characters:

My lord?
            A grave.
                        He shall not live.
                                                Enough.

Shakespeare also used enjambment increasingly often in his verse, and in his last plays was given to using feminine endings (in which the last syllable of the line is unstressed, for instance lines 3 and 6 of the following example); all of this made his later blank verse extremely rich and varied.

Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make
Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimmed
The noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war - to the dread rattling thunder
Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt;...

This very free treatment of blank verse was imitated by Shakespeare's contemporaries, and led to general metrical looseness in the hands of less skilled users. However, Shakespearean blank verse was used with some success by John Webster and Thomas Middleton in their plays. Ben Jonson, meanwhile, used a tighter blank verse with less enjambment in his great comedies Volpone and The Alchemist.

Blank verse was not much used in the non-dramatic poetry of the 17th century until Paradise Lost, in which Milton used it with much license and tremendous skill. Milton used the flexibility of blank verse, its capacity to support syntactic complexity, to the utmost, in passages such as these:

....Into what Pit thou seest
From what highth fal'n, so much the stronger provd
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost?
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:

Milton also wrote Paradise Regained and parts of Samson Agonistes in blank verse. In the century after Milton, there are few distinguished uses of either dramatic or non-dramatic blank verse; in keeping with the desire for regularity, most of the blank verse of this period is somewhat stiff. The best examples of blank verse from this time are probably John Dryden's tragedy All for Love and James Thomson's The Seasons. An example notable as much for its failure with the public as for its subsequent influence on the form is John Dyer's The Fleece.

At the close of the 18th century, William Cowper ushered in a renewal of blank verse with his volume of kaleidoscopic meditations, The Task, published in 1784. After Shakespeare and Milton, Cowper was the main influence on the next major poets in blank verse, teenagers when Cowper published his masterpiece. These were the Lake Poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth used the form for many of the Lyrical Ballads (1798 and 1800), and for his longest efforts, The Prelude and The Excursion. Wordsworth's verse recovers some of the freedom of Milton's, but is generally far more regular:

Five years have past; five summers, with the length
Of five long winters! And again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur. â€“ Once again
Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs...

Coleridge's blank verse is more technical than Wordsworth's, but he wrote little of it:

Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,
This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost
Beauties and feelings, such as would have been
Most sweet to my remembrance even when age
had dimmed mine eyes to blindness! They, meanwhile...

His so-called "conversation Poems" such as "The Aeolian Harp" and "Frost at Midnight" are the best known of his blank verse works. The blank verse of Keats in Hyperion is mainly modelled on that of Milton, but takes fewer liberties with the pentameter and possesses the characteristic beauties of Keats's verse. Shelley's blank verse in The Cenci and Prometheus Unbound is closer to Elizabethan practice than to Milton's.

Of the Victorian writers in blank verse, the most prominent are Tennyson and Robert Browning. Tennyson's blank verse in poems like "Ulysses" and "The Princess" is musical and regular; his lyric "Tears, Idle Tears" is probably the first important example of the blank verse stanzaic poem. Browning's blank verse, in poems like "Fra Lippo Lippi", is more abrupt and conversational. Gilbert and Sullivan's 1884 opera, Princess Ida, is based on Tennyson's "The Princess". Gilbert's dialogue is in blank verse throughout (although the other 13 Savoy operas have prose dialogue). Below is an extract spoken by Princess Ida after singing her entrance aria "Oh, goddess wise".

Women of Adamant, fair neophytes—
Who thirst for such instruction as we give,
Attend, while I unfold a parable.
The elephant is mightier than Man,
Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant
Is elephantine everywhere but here (tapping her forehead)
And Man, whose brain is to the elephant’s
As Woman’s brain to Man’s—(that’s rule of three),—
Conquers the foolish giant of the woods,
As Woman, in her turn, shall conquer Man.
In Mathematics, Woman leads the way:
The narrow-minded pedant still believes
That two and two make four! Why, we can prove,
We women—household drudges as we are—
That two and two make five—or three—or seven;
Or five-and-twenty, if the case demands!

Blank verse, of varying degrees of regularity, has been used quite frequently throughout the 20th century in original verse and in translations of narrative verse. Most of Robert Frost's narrative and conversational poems are in blank verse; so are other important poems like Wallace Stevens's "The Idea of Order at Key West" and "The Comedian as the Letter C", W. B. Yeats's "The Second Coming", W. H. Auden's "The Watershed" and John Betjeman's Summoned by Bells. MacKinlay Kantor's 1945 novella of the struggles of returning World War II veterans, Glory for Me, which was the basis for the movie The Best Years of Our Lives, was written in blank verse. A complete listing is impossible, since a sort of loose blank verse has become a staple of lyric poetry, but it would be safe to say that blank verse is as prominent now as it has been any time in the past three hundred years.

The largest English poems as The Fall of Nineveh by Edwin Atherstone and King Alfred by John Fitchett are written in blank verse.

In Germany blank verse was used by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing in the tragedy Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise):[6]

Ja, Daja; Gott sei Dank! Doch warum endlich?
Hab ich denn eher wiederkommen wollen?
Und wiederkommen können? Babylon
Ist von Jerusalem, wie ich den Weg,
Seitab bald rechts, bald links, zu nehmen bin
Genötigt worden, gut zweihundert Meilen;
Und Schulden einkassieren, ist gewiss
Auch kein Geschäft, das merklich fördert, das
So von der Hand sich schlagen lässt.

Lines are 10 syllables long or 11 syllables long.