The Six Million Dollar Man is an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Colonel Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. Austin has superhuman strength due to bionic implants and is employed as a secret agent by a fictional U. S. government office titled OSI. The series was based on the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg, the working title of the series during pre-production. Following three television pilot movies, which all aired in 1973, The Six Million Dollar Man television series aired on the ABC network as a regular episodic series for five seasons from 1974 to 1978. Steve Austin became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off television series, The Bionic Woman, featuring the lead female character Jaime Sommers, ran from 1976 to 1978. Three television movies featuring both bionic characters were produced from 1987 to 1994; when NASA astronaut USAF Colonel Steve Austin is injured in the crash of an experimental lifting body aircraft, he is "rebuilt" in an operation that costs $6 million.
His right arm, both legs and the left eye are replaced with "bionic" implants that enhance his strength and vision far above human norms: he can run at speeds of over 60 mph, his eye has a 20:1 zoom lens and infrared capabilities, while his bionic limbs all have the equivalent power of a bulldozer. He uses his enhanced abilities to work for the OSI as a secret agent. Caidin's novel Cyborg was a best-seller when it was published in 1972, he followed it up with three sequels, Operation Nuke, High Crystal, Cyborg IV about a black market in nuclear weapons, a Chariots of the Gods? scenario, fusing Austin's bionic hardware to a spaceplane. In March 1973, Cyborg was loosely adapted as a made-for-TV movie titled The Six Million Dollar Man starring Majors as Austin; the producers first choice was Monte Markham. The adaptation was done by writer Howard Rodman; the film, nominated for a Hugo Award, modified Caidin's plot, notably made Austin a civilian astronaut rather than a colonel in the United States Air Force.
Absent were some of the standard features of the series: the electronic sound effects, the slow-motion running, the character of Oscar Goldman. Instead, another character named Oliver Spencer, played by Darren McGavin, was Austin's supervisor, of an organization here called the OSO; the lead scientist involved in implanting Austin's bionic hardware, Dr. Rudy Wells, was played in the pilot by Martin Balsam on an occasional basis in the series by Alan Oppenheimer, as a series regular, by Martin E. Brooks. Austin did not use the enhanced capabilities of his bionic eye during the first TV movie; the first movie was a major ratings success and was followed by two more made-for-TV movies in October and November 1973 as part of ABC's rotating Movie of the Week series. The first was titled The Six Million Dollar Man: "Wine and War", the second was titled The Six Million Dollar Man: "The Solid Gold Kidnapping"; the first of these two bore strong resemblances to Operation Nuke. This was followed in January 1974 by the debut of The Six Million Dollar Man as a weekly hour-long series.
The last two movies, produced by Glen A. Larson, notably introduced a James Bond flavor to the series and reinstated Austin's status from the novels as an Air Force colonel; the show was popular during its run and introduced several pop culture elements of the 1970s, such as the show's opening catchphrase, the slow motion action sequences, the accompanying "electronic" sound effects. The slow motion action sequences were referred to as "Kung Fu slow motion" in popular culture. In 1975, a two-part episode titled "The Bionic Woman", written for television by Kenneth Johnson, introduced the lead character Jaime Sommers, a professional tennis player who rekindled an old romance with Austin, only to experience a parachuting accident that resulted in her being given bionic parts similar to Austin, her body "rejected" her bionic hardware and she died. The character was popular and the following season it was revealed that she had survived, having been saved by an experimental cryogenic procedure, she was given her own spin-off series, The Bionic Woman.
This spin-off ran until 1978 when both it and The Six Million Dollar Man were cancelled, though the two series were on different networks when their final seasons aired. Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers returned in three subsequent made-for-television movies: The Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman which featured Sandra Bullock in an early role as a new bionic woman. Majors reprised the role of Steve Austin in all three productions, which featu
Paradorn Srichaphan is a retired professional tennis player from Thailand. He was the first men's singles player from Asia to be ranked in the top 10 of the ATP rankings, reaching a career high world no. 9. His nickname is "Ball", he graduated as a Bachelor of Social Science from Ramkhamhaeng University. Paradorn started his professional ATP career in 1998, he remained in the lower ranks of the professional circuit for several years. However his ranking continued to improve. After being a surprise finalist in the 2000 Hopman Cup, 2002 was a breakthrough year for him as he managed to get into the top 30 after defeating Andre Agassi in Wimbledon. In 2003 he won the Hamlet Cup, he reached the fourth round in Wimbledon where he was beaten by Andy Roddick in four sets, having become the first player to defeat Rafael Nadal in a Grand Slam event. He reached the fourth round in the US Open losing to Lleyton Hewitt. By the end of the year, he was ranked World No. 11 in the ATP rankings. He is however not in favor of playing doubles having won no title in this category on either Challenger or ATP level.
Paradorn is popular in Asia in Thailand. He was Thailand's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece but lost in the first round of singles to Joachim Johansson, his best Olympics performance was second round in Sydney, beating Attila Sávolt before being beaten by third-seeded Magnus Norman. Paradorn plays with big powerful forehands, he uses a single-handed backhand, is known for being a weak player on clay courts due to his lack of patience when playing points. At the 2006 Indian Wells masters tournament, Paradorn reached the semifinals and lost against World No. 1 Roger Federer. En route to the semifinal he beat World No. 20 Robby Ginepri in the second round, World No. 16 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain in the third round, World No. 4 David Nalbandian in the fourth round, World No. 25 Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the quarterfinals. In the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, Paradorn was seeded 29th but was upset in the first round by Agustín Calleri in five sets.
He did not perform well in all the events he participated in early 2007 due to a wrist injury and he missed the whole 2007 season. As a result, his ranking fell to below No. 900. After the end of the ATP Masters Series event in Miami that ended in early April 2007, Paradorn fell out of the ATP rankings, he began practicing as of March 2008, however it took him until the 2009 Thailand Open to return to the ATP World Tour, playing doubles. He retired in June 2010, following a motorcycle crash that left him with two broken hands and a wrist. Paradorn is sponsored by Adidas and Thai Airways International. Paradorn is noted for his politeness on the court. At each match, he performs the wai, the traditional Thai greeting, clasping his hands together and bowing to the four corners of the stadium; the gesture is seen as thanking the fans and it has become his trademark. His success in tennis led to a spike in popularity of the game in Thailand; the Nation newspaper named him "Thai of the Year" in 2002.
In November 2005, Paradorn spent a week as a Buddhist monk in a temple outside Bangkok. He adopted the Buddhist name Mahaviro, meaning "great and brave", wore saffron robes and shaved his head, his girlfriend, Odette Henriette Jacqmin was present for the ceremony. Paradorn married Miss Universe 2005, Natalie Glebova of Canada in Bangkok, Thailand, on 29 November 2007. In June 2010, Paradorn announced his retirement from the ATP tour but will coach Thailand's Davis Cup team. In February 2011, Paradorn and wife, announced their separation after three years of marriage stating the reason to be "work commitments had kept them apart." Srichaphan has twice been awarded the ATP Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, in 2002 and 2003. In August 2009, Paradorn opened an Italian cuisine restaurant in Bangkok named So–Le Cafe. At the same time, Paradorn launched an herbal-product company named Magic Thaiherbs, he tried his hand at acting in Bang Rajan 2. Paradorn Srichaphan at the Association of Tennis Professionals Paradorn Srichaphan at the International Tennis Federation Paradorn Srichaphan at the Davis Cup
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929–30 for Bertie Meyer on an "irregular triangular site". It was designed by Wimperis and Guthrie; the theatre is notable for its elegant and clean lines of design. The theatre was refurbished in 1950—the original gold and silver décor was painted over in red, candelabras and chandeliers were added. In 1987, to restore the original décor, the theatre was once again refurbished, this time by Carl Toms; the theatre has a circular entrance foyer, with Grinling's bronze frieze depicting nude figures in exercise poses, the theme continues into the main foyer, with dancing nudes, marble pilaster up lighters and concealed lighting. English Heritage notes: the Cambridge Theatre is a rare and early example of a London theatre adopting the moderne, expressionist style pioneered in Germany during the 1920s, it marked a conscious reaction to the design excesses of contemporary cinemas.
Theatres looked for a new style appropriate to the greater sophistication of their entertainment and found it in the Germanic moderne forms of simple shapes enlivened by concealed lighting, shiny steelwork and touches of bright colour. The theatre was Grade II listed in January 1999. Productions at the Cambridge Theatre have been characterised by short runs interspersed with several dark periods and the theatre was used for trade film shows in the late 1930s and again in 1969 as a cinema. Notable productions include Joan Sims in Breath of spring by Peter Coke in 1958, Tommy Steele in Half a Sixpence in 1963, Bruce Forsyth in Little Me in 1964, The Black Mikado, in the late 1970s the Kander and Ebb musical Chicago ran for 590 performances. More the rock and roll musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, based on Shakespeare's The Tempest and used 1950s and 1960s songs opened in September 1989 and lasted until early 1993, winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical—beating the favourite, Miss Saigon.
The controversial show Jerry Springer: The Opera had a run from 14 October 2003 – 19 February 2005. This was followed by a month run of illusionist Derren Brown's Something Wicked This Way Comes tour, before the London première of Flying Music's Dancing in the Streets, which opened on 7 July 2005; this finished its run on 22 April 2006 and Chicago moved across Theatreland from the Adelphi Theatre to continue its London run into its tenth year at the theatre that hosted the show in the 1970s. It opened at the Cambridge on Friday 28 April. Chicago cancelled all performances post 27 August 2011. Matilda the Musical commenced performances at The Cambridge from 18 October 2011, with an official opening night on 22 November 2011; as of April 2017, Matilda became the longest running production in the theatre's history. Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, starring at various times Shane Richie and Ben Richards Great Balls of Fire The Beautiful Game by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Ben Elton Fame Our House by Madness and Tim Firth Jerry Springer: The Opera, starring David Soul Something Wicked this Way Comes, starring Derren Brown Dancing in the Streets Chicago Matilda the Musical Citations Further readingEarl, John.
Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950. Theatres Trust. P. 102. ISBN 0-7136-5688-3. Official website