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Les Golden

2011-11-11T22:49:49Z

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{{Infobox_Person
| name = [[Person_First_Name::Les]] [[Person_Last_Name::Golden]]
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for roulette
| contact = [[lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com]]
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, Illinois. He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and Bluff Europe print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, Nevada and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, Illinois, and Reno, Nevada.

==Background==
===Education and Research===
Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism).

===Performing===
Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; Golden, Les “It’s Not Easy Being Green” (2001), “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits,<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the University of California Jazz Ensembles by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the Daily Californian. With the arrival of Dr. David W. Tucker to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the Eddie Hubbard Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his public presentations, he has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the University of California Jazz Ensembles, under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker, went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first Reno Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>Krapf, Paula (1995) “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1998), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the normal curve, and Gambler's ruin, and often employing Monte Carlo simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize.<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref><ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref> Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the National Measurement Office|British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan CARE Party (Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, Illinois. He later formed the TURF Party (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax griped to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>

His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
His political candidacies for U.S. Congress and State Representative using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
[[Category:Betting systems]]
[[Category:Film theorists]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:Gambling]]
[[Category:Gambling games]]
[[Category:Gambling terminology]]
[[Category:American comedians]]
[[Category:American musicians]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American sports announcers]]
[[Category:American writers]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Political slogans]]

Les Golden

2011-11-11T22:48:28Z

ShBoomShBoom: /* Performing */

{{Infobox_Person
| name = [[Person_First_Name::Les]] [[Person_Last_Name::Golden]]
| other_names = AKA "Cut the Taxes" (political candidate)Leonard Running Bear (political candidate spoof)Moe Silver (character in cartoon strip and stage play "Shrubtown")Les Morris (bandleader)Subrahmanyan Berkowitz (stand-up comic)Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell (stand-up comic)Flash Golden (play-by-play announcer and jazz radio disc jockey)
| residence = Oak Park, [[State_Name::Illinois]], and [[City::Reno]], [[State_Name::Nevada]]
| image = Gamblejpg.jpg
| imagesize = 190px
| caption = Les Golden counting cards at the Kellogg Graduate School of Business (Northwestern University) Casino Night
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Yes
| birth_name =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| occupation = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian
| known = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for roulette
| contact = [[lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com]]
| reference = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden
}}

'''Les Golden''' is an internationally-known gambling writer based in Oak Park, Illinois. He has written for gambling.com, iGamingBusiness, gamblingonline, and Bluff Europe print magazines. He became aware of card counting systems and became a card counter at the popular casino game of blackjack while a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, by reading the 1966 revised edition of Beat the Dealer,<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966) ''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York</ref> the seminal work of mathematician Edward O. Thorp, who was aided in his computer simulations by programmers Julian Braun and Harvey Dubner.<ref>Thorp, E. O. (1966),''Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One'', Random House, New York, pp. 93-94</ref> As a graduate student in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, Nevada and played blackjack using Thorp’s systems. He is the developer of the Golden Diagram technique for countering casino countermeasures at blackjack and the Magic Circle system for winning at biased roulette wheels. He currently resides in Oak Park, Illinois, and Reno, Nevada.

==Background==
===Education and Research===
Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg). Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side. The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan, Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.

He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence. At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council. Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;
books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref> He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California. He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994. He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism).

===Performing===
Golden is a nationally-referenced animal welfare advocate and environmental activist,<ref>http://www.elephantinformation.com/CEMENT%20FLOORING%20or%20HARD%20DIRT%20GROUND.htm </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-11-24/news/0411240206_1_new-trees-oak-park-district-mulberry-trees</ref><ref>Dwyer, Bill (2007), “Tree Fury at Field,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 10, p. 1; http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/07-10-2007/Tree_fury_at_Field</ref><ref>Noel, Josh (2007), “Oak Park tree-removal plan heads for debate,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 12, p. 7; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-07-19/news/0707181717_1_trees-park-renovation-plan</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2005), “Elephant deaths are a matter of physics,” ''Chicago Sun-Times'', January 28, p. 24</ref><ref>(2000) “Trailside needs a champion,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'' (editorial), November 1, p. 32</ref><ref>Vincent, Ed (2002), “The Lost Chukar,” http://www.suburbanjournals.com/Stories2002/Lost-Chukar-Returned-Home-2002.html, August 10</ref><ref>see, in addition, for example, Golden, Les (2002), “All it would take is a fence to keep critters alive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', June 12, p. 41; Golden, Les (2000), “Les ‘Cut the Roadkill’ Golden says, Slow Down!”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 19, p. 25; Golden, Les (2000), “Hey, Sylvestri, save our furry and feathered friends,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 25, p. 34; Little, Rebecca and Trainor, Ken (2000) “Silvestri responds to Golden, Trailside,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 1, p. 2; Golden, Les “Let’s Save the Dogs” Golden (2002), “Ask politicians to make dog fighting a felony,” May 22, p. 32; (2008), “Inside Report: Les ‘Cut the coyotes a break’ Golden,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', January 23, p. 5; Linden, Eric (1991), “’Dandelion Dig’ idea blooming,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', May 29, p. 7; Golden, Les “It’s Not Easy Being Green” (2001), “It’s not easy being green, but here are some ideas”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 11, p. 40</ref> a professional trumpet player, jazz vocalist, and band leader,<ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref> and a professional actor with more than 100 stage, film, radio, television, and commercial credits<ref> (1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,”
Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref>, including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the University of California Jazz Ensembles by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the Daily Californian. With the arrival of Dr. David W. Tucker to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus. Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band. For six years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!" He was a featured regular on the Eddie Hubbard Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan. He is a member of both the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM. As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs. He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown. He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie. To his right is color man George Skofis. To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.]]

===Organized Athletics===
In athletics he was a two-sport letterman at Oak Park and River Forest High School and was the manager and third baseman of the "Goldenrods" at Cornell and manager and third baseman of the "Foul Balls" in the fast-pitch summer league at U.C. Berkeley. At JPL, he was the third baseman on the champion JPL fast-pitch team in the Glendale City League.

===Astronomy Publications and Presentations===
Golden has published several peer-reviewed refereed articles on applications of probability and statistics to astronomy,<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103; http://www.nature.com/nature-physci/journal/v234/n49/abs/physci234103a0.html</ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974MNRAS.166..383G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122; http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1974Obs....94..122G </ref><ref>Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0019103579901994 </ref> and has taught probability and statistics in the Heller Graduate School of Business at Roosevelt University in Chicago in addition to being an astronomy professor in the physics department and the Honors College of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies. A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996. Among his public presentations, he has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man. No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor. His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref>

==Gambling Writings==
===Introduction to Card Counting===
In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the University of California Jazz Ensembles, under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker, went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first Reno Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system. In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada. In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to Las Vegas, Nevada. He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.
[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine]]

===Writings===
He has written for ''Gambling.com'',<ref>http://www.professional-poker.com/news/2006/nov/764-gamblingcom-poker-content.htm.</ref><ref>http://www.gambling.com/Blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> ''Gambling Online'',<ref>www.gamblingonlinemagazine.com/casinos.php</ref> ''iGaming Business'',<ref> http://www.igamingbusiness.com/content/shannon-elizabeth-heats-gamblingcom-magazine</ref> and ''Bluff Europe''<ref>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluff_Magazine</ref><ref>www.bluffeurope.com/</ref> magazines, and as a newspaper columnist as a casino advocate.<ref>Golden, Les (1992). “Pleasant Home: Here's a Worthwhile Gamble,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 31, p. 21</ref> His writing reflects his Renaissance man<ref name=''tinsel''>(1994), “A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown,” ''Compuserve magazine'',
August, p. 55</ref><ref>Krapf, Paula (1995) “Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref><ref>Trainor, Ken (1998), “The Clone Ranger divides again”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 1, p. 52</ref><ref name="Shrewish">Trainor, Ken (2001) “Funny, he doesn’t look shrewish,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 1, p. 2</ref> multiple knowledge bases. With a technical background, many of his articles deal with probability issues in casino games, focusing on roulette, craps, and blackjack, and discussing such topics as the central limit theorem, the normal curve, and Gambler's ruin, and often employing Monte Carlo simulations and references to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, an area to which he had been introduced at Cornell University by his mentor Frank Drake and which is one of his research and public lecture areas as an astronomer.<ref>(1983). “People Focuses on Fellow Who Makes ETs His Specialty,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', November 16</ref><ref>(1983), “Rosary prof makes stars come to life for ‘ET’ class,” ''Suburban Sun-Times'' (West), July 1, p. 14</ref><ref>(1984). ”Halley's Comet, Alien Life Highlight Astronomer's Talk,” ''Harlem-Irving Times'', March 2, p 3</ref> With his stand-up comedian background, his style has been described by one of his editors, “You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character. Luckily for readers, he’s also a great blackjack player,”<ref>Lines, Chris (2009), “A Word From the Editor,” ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref> and by Dave Bland, the editor of ''Flush Magazine'', "Les Golden is a comedy genius. I could write more but it really is as simple as that.”<ref>http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/community/stories/2010/06/cut-the-taxes-golden-is-now-cut-the-cards/</ref> A professional actor with a Kevin Bacon number of 3 who has studied with Ann Woodworth of Northwestern University and Del Close of Chicago’s The Second City improvisational nightclub, Golden periodically writes about applying acting techniques to camouflage both being a card counter and also being a member of roulette and blackjack teams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010), “So, Do You Feel Lucky, Punk. Well, Do ‘Ya? ,” ''Bluff Europe'', October, p. 88-89</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “Yonder Lies the Castle of my Fodder,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-91</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010), “The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Plain”: Camouflage by Status,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-91</ref>

Golden has won multiple awards for his writing, including the prestigious Eric Hoffer and Lili Fabilli Laconic Essay Prize.<ref> http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/undergraduates/hofferprize.htm </ref><ref> (1974), Griffith Observer, number 6 </ref> Gambling.com's website refers to Golden as “gambling.com magazine’s resident blackjack genius.”<ref>http://www.gambling.com/blackjack/tips-strategies/194/the-blackjack-breakdown</ref> His research into the gambling game of 21 has been published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal.<ref> http://www.appliedprobability.org/content.aspx?Group=tms&Page=tmsabstracts36_1#eight </ref>

===Golden Diagram===
After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter gains over the house by adopting counter strategies. These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck. Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning. In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects: 1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games using multiple decks.

Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects. The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters: The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'', June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me: An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref> He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2, p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby: The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

===Magic Circle strategy===
The game of roulette, being a game of Simple random sample|statistics without replacement, is not amenable to systems such as card counting, which rely on the non-randomness of the particular game. If, however, the roulette wheel is not perfectly level, laboratory studies, most notably at the National Measurement Office|British National Weights and Measures Laboratory, and theoretical studies have shown that a skillful croupier can by virtue of muscle memory release the roulette ball with a speed and at a location on the table to bias the bin in which it comes to rest.<ref>Dixon, P. (2005). “Roulette Wheel Testing,” ''Report on Stage 3.1 of NWML/GBGB Project Proposal''</ref><ref>http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2007/ph210/hall1/</ref>

The Magic Circle strategy takes advantage of this potential bias and the non-random location of the various bets on the roulette wheel.<ref>Golden, Les (2009). “Vodka Can Make You Tilt: How You Can Win At Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', November, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2009). “With The Tips In This Article You’ll Become Wealthy Beyond Your Wildest Dreams!,” ''Bluff Europe'', December, p. 90-92</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2010). “Beginners in the Casino: Camouflaging Team Roulette,” ''Bluff Europe'', January, p. 90-91.</ref> Golden showed that, after influencing the croupier to direct the ball into certain sectors of the roulette wheel, a team of players can lay bets in strategic locations on the wheel to secure profitable play.

==Political Activity==
===Local===
Golden began his political career with the non-partisan CARE Party (Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, Illinois. He later formed the TURF Party (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community. He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref> As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, Oak Leaves, October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest, February 6, page 1;
(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, Oak Leaves, August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax griped to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike; (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>

His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===
His political candidacies for U.S. Congress and State Representative using the nickname "Cut the Taxes" have led to court actions,<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/773242/posts</ref><ref>(2002), Mission: Fool voters (editorial), ''Chicago Tribune'', January 18, p. 18 </ref><ref> (1996) “Cut taxing districts,” ''Berwyn Life'' October 9, p. 22 </ref><ref> http://anti-state.com/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=1446</ref><ref>http://ddd-hph.dlconsulting.com/cgi-bin/newshph?a=d&d=HPH19980107.2.3&cl=&srpos=0&st=1&e=00-00-0000-99-99-9999--20--1----Sen.+Obama-all</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-18/news/0209180186_1_ballots-fractional-jagielski </ref><ref> http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/10-30-2002/Golden_wins_Cut-The-Taxes_suit,_sues_again_</ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-16/news/0210160202_1_blagojevich-spokesman-doug-scofield-illinois-state-board </ref><ref>Zorn, Eric. (1995) This candidate is a Cut the Taxes above the rest, ''Chicago Tribune'' (Metrowest), October 3, p. 1; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes </ref><ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-10-23/news/0210230072_1_golden-ballot-orr </ref><ref>http://www.actuarialoutpost.com/actuarial_discussion_forum/showthread.php?p=136091</ref><ref>www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-1110F700ED5B9A50.html</ref> a re-writing of Illinois election law concerning allowable names on the ballot<ref>http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=09300SB0428ham005&GA=93&SessionId=3&DocTypeId=SB&LegID=&DocNum=0428&GAID=3&Session= </ref><ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (e)</ref> <ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-03/news/0306030127_1_orr-slogans-78th-district</ref><ref> Trainor, Ken (1997), “Who is Les Golden?”, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37 </ref> propagated throughout the state of Illinois in election guides for candidates,<ref>www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/docs/2012/2012CanGuide.pdf</ref><ref>www.elections.il.gov/downloads/electioninformationcourth/pdf/2011canguide.pdf </ref> lengthy discussions in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) handbook on election law<ref> www.iicle.com </ref> which is on display in courthouses in the state of Illinois, scholarly studies on election law and ballot access, <ref>http://www.umsl.edu/~kimballd/illinois.pdf</ref> and rewriting of election law in other states. <ref>law.onecle.com/texas/election/52.031.00.html</ref> In addition, in another part of the revised election law, the Golden Rule, for the first time in Illinois history, allows any election official whatsoever, state as well as local, to extend their previous ministerial powers beyond mere printing of the ballot to actually removing slogans from ballot names.<ref>10 ILCS 5/16-3 (f)</ref> These cases in election law and the revised Illinois election law statutes have been cited repeatedly in jurisdictions throughout the country.

In 2008, he was the statewide spokesman and one of three state-wide coordinators for the group seeking to convene an Illinois Constitutional Convention.<ref>(2008) Sweeney, Chuck, Constitutional convention? Here's a pro-con, Rockford Register Star, June 18; http://www.rrstar.com/opinions/x1713643550/Constitutional-convention-Heres-a-pro-con</ref><ref>(2008) Wilson, Doug, Business group says constitutional convention would be too costly, risky, Quincy Herald-Whig, July 15</ref><ref>www.chicagogop.com/home/blogger/drlesmgolden/</ref> He wrote the field guide for campaign workers which was used in other states also seeking to convene constitutional conventions. He was selected to be a charter member of the board of the Illinois Taxpayer Education Foundation (ITEF) in 1994.

He received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the National Taxpayers United of Illinois umbrella group in 1991 for his taxpayer advocacy efforts.

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
image:Pumpkin_2006.jpg

</gallery>

==Quote==
"The only famous counters are the ex-counters."

==References==
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:1; column-count:1;">
<references />
</div>

==Technical Publications==

===Probability and Statistics in Astronomy===
1. Golden, Leslie M. (1971). “Evolution of Quasar Optical and Radio Luminosity,” ''Nature'', '''234''', 103.

2. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Isotropy of Radio Source Populations from Comparison of Number - Flux Density Curves,” ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', '''166''', 383.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (1974). “Observational Selection in the Identification of Quasars and Claims for Anisotropy,” ''Observatory'', '''94''', 122.

4. Golden, Leslie M. (1979). “The Effect of Surface Roughness on the Transmission of Microwave Radiation Through a Planetary Surface,” ''Icarus'', '''38''', 451.

===Technical Articles on Gambling===

1. Golden, Les; Thompson-Hill, Jeremy; and Theobold, Rick (2008). “Has Online Gaming Reached Saturation Point?,” '' iGaming Business'', March/April, p. 16-17.

2 Golden, Les; Turner, Noah; and von Bar, Jens (2009). “The Death of the RNG,” '' iGaming Business'', July/August, p. 56-59.

3. Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.” ''The Mathematical Scientist'', ''' 32''', 2, p. 57-69.

==External links==
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden] Home Page

==Categories==
[[Category:Academia]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:American academics]]
[[Category:American actor-politicians]]
[[Category:American environmentalists]]
[[Category:American essayists]]
[[Category:Comics characters]]
[[Category:Betting systems]]
[[Category:Film theorists]]
[[Category:American film actors]]
[[Category:American stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:American male singers]]
[[Category:Gambling]]
[[Category:Gambling games]]
[[Category:Gambling terminology]]
[[Category:American comedians]]
[[Category:American musicians]]
[[Category:American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American sports announcers]]
[[Category:American writers]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Political slogans]]

Bluff Magazine

2011-11-11T16:52:22Z

ShBoomShBoom:

'''''Bluff Magazine''''' is an American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions are also published for Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australasia.

The American edition began as a bimonthly in October 2004 and went monthly in August 2005.

In December 2006, Bluff Magazine purchased thepokerdb.com, an online tournament database.<ref>http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-06-2006/0004486337&EDATE= PRNewswire</ref> The site has since been integrated into the Bluff Magazine website.

The magazine annually names the "Poker Power 20," the 20 most important people in the poker industry. Howard Lederer was at the top of the 2011 list.<ref>http://wickedchopspoker.com/howard-lederer-tops-bluff-magazines-poker-power-20/ WickedChopsPoker.com: Howard Leferer Tops Bluff Magazine's Poker Power 20 for 2011 (Fe. 24, 2011)</ref>

==Bluff Europe Magazine==
'''Bluff Europe Magazine''' is a monthly European sister title to ''Bluff Magazine''.

Printed in the United Kingdom and focusing more on the European poker circuit, regular contributors include professional players including Neil Channing, Liv Boeree, Tom Sambrook, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, and Mike Caro, as well as distinguished award-winning writers such as [[Les Golden]] and Adam Slutzky.

The magazine was first published in March 2006.

==Bluff Magazine South Africa==
'''Bluff Magazine South Africa''' is an alternate monthly Southern African sister title to Bluff Magazine America.

Published by Maverick Publishing Corp., Bluff Magazine SA focuses mainly on the poker industry in Southern Africa. Ryan Dreyer, top South African poker player and winner of the 2008 Sun City Millions poker tournament, is the editor.

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.com Official site]
* [http://www.bluffeurope.com Europe edition site]
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.co.za South African edition site]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden Les Golden]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden Writers]
* [http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden Renaissance Man]

[[Category:Actors]]

Bluff Magazine

2011-11-11T16:51:20Z

ShBoomShBoom:

'''''Bluff Magazine''''' is an United States|American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions are also published for Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australasia.

The American edition began as a bimonthly in October 2004 and went monthly in August 2005.

In December 2006, Bluff Magazine purchased thepokerdb.com, an online tournament database.<ref>http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-06-2006/0004486337&EDATE= PRNewswire</ref> The site has since been integrated into the Bluff Magazine website. {{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

The magazine annually names the "Poker Power 20," the 20 most important people in the poker industry. Howard Lederer was at the top of the 2011 list.<ref>http://wickedchopspoker.com/howard-lederer-tops-bluff-magazines-poker-power-20/ WickedChopsPoker.com: Howard Leferer Tops Bluff Magazine's Poker Power 20 for 2011 (Fe. 24, 2011)</ref>

==Bluff Europe Magazine==
'''Bluff Europe Magazine''' is a monthly European sister title to ''Bluff Magazine''.

Printed in the United Kingdom and focusing more on the European poker circuit, regular contributors include professional players including Neil Channing, Liv Boeree, Tom Sambrook, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, and Mike Caro, as well as distinguished award-winning writers such as [[Les Golden]] and Adam Slutzky.

The magazine was first published in March 2006.

==Bluff Magazine South Africa==
'''Bluff Magazine South Africa''' is an alternate monthly Southern African sister title to Bluff Magazine America.

Published by Maverick Publishing Corp., Bluff Magazine SA focuses mainly on the poker industry in Southern Africa. Ryan Dreyer, top South African poker player and winner of the 2008 Sun City Millions poker tournament, is the editor.

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.com Official site]
* [http://www.bluffeurope.com Europe edition site]
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.co.za South African edition site]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden Les Golden]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden Writers]
* [http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden Renaissance Man]

[[Category:Actors]]

Bluff Magazine

2011-11-11T16:50:15Z

ShBoomShBoom: Created page with '{{italic title}} '''''Bluff Magazine''''' is an United States|American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions are also published for Europe, Latin America,…'

{{italic title}}
'''''Bluff Magazine''''' is an United States|American magazine specializing in the game of poker. Separate editions are also published for Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Australasia.

The American edition began as a bimonthly in October 2004 and went monthly in August 2005.

In December 2006, Bluff Magazine purchased thepokerdb.com, an online tournament database.<ref>http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/12-06-2006/0004486337&EDATE= PRNewswire</ref> The site has since been integrated into the Bluff Magazine website. {{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

The magazine annually names the "Poker Power 20," the 20 most important people in the poker industry. Howard Lederer was at the top of the 2011 list.<ref>http://wickedchopspoker.com/howard-lederer-tops-bluff-magazines-poker-power-20/ WickedChopsPoker.com: Howard Leferer Tops Bluff Magazine's Poker Power 20 for 2011 (Fe. 24, 2011)</ref>

==Bluff Europe Magazine==
'''Bluff Europe Magazine''' is a monthly European sister title to ''Bluff Magazine''.

Printed in the United Kingdom and focusing more on the European poker circuit, regular contributors include professional players including Neil Channing, Liv Boeree, Tom Sambrook, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, and Mike Caro, as well as distinguished award-winning writers such as [[Les Golden]] and Adam Slutzky.

The magazine was first published in March 2006.

==Bluff Magazine South Africa==
'''Bluff Magazine South Africa''' is an alternate monthly Southern African sister title to Bluff Magazine America.

Published by Maverick Publishing Corp., Bluff Magazine SA focuses mainly on the poker industry in Southern Africa. Ryan Dreyer, top South African poker player and winner of the 2008 Sun City Millions poker tournament, is the editor.

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.com Official site]
* [http://www.bluffeurope.com Europe edition site]
* [http://www.bluffmagazine.co.za South African edition site]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden Les Golden]
* [http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden Writers]
* [http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden Renaissance Man]

[[Category:Poker publications]]
[[Category:American magazines]]
[[Category:Publications established in 2004]]

Oak Park Festival Theatre

2011-11-11T15:07:13Z

ShBoomShBoom:

'''Oak Park Festival Theatre''' is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident and arts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively by William Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants, Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, and Metra and CTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

Audience members in Austin Gardens often picnic before performances. Occasionally, special performances by the Oak Park Recorder Society or other pre-show events are presented. Special Family Day performances and child-centered special crafts, games, and activities are held at least twice a summer to encourage families to introduce their children to Shakespeare.

==History==
===Predecessor===
Oak Park had a Shakespeare theatre previous to OPFT. In the 1960s producers Josephine Forsberg, Ed Udovic, and actor-director Lee Henry created Village Classics Theatre and produced ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Richard III'', and other productions outdoors on the hill of Field Playground under the auspices of the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park. Actors who performed included Equity performers Val Bettin, Robert Kidd, Tom Elrod, and Angel Casey as well as Oak Park residents [[Les Golden]], Clifford Osborne, and Nick Cotsonas. The hill was, at that time, crowned on all sides with numerous large bushes and small trees, providing a natural set for battle scenes and forest liaisons. The professionality of the productions brought, among others, esteemed ''Chicago Tribune'' drama critic Richard Christiansen, a native Oak Parker, to the theatre.

===Early Decades===
Oak Park Festival Theatre was begun in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident.<ref>New Theatre in Town, Oak Park World, March 15, 1975</ref> Its first production was ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with a cast that included David Mamet and William H. Macy. Its artistic directors since then have included Patrick O'Gara, Tom Mula, David Darlow, Dale Calandra, and Jack Hickey.

The 1980s were heady years for the theater. With numerous Actors' Equity contracts attracting Chicago professional actors and the presence of talented non-Equity actors, audiences numbering in the 300s and 400s came to see Shakespeare under the stars.

===Later Decades===
The 1990s began some difficult years for OPFT. During this time the number of Chicago area theaters quadrupled and other theaters, inspired by Festival Theatre's success, began to produce Shakespeare on a regular basis. The resulting decrease in attendance compounded by some questionable management decisions which were discovered by actor [[Les Golden]] in 2001 when he was cast as Gremio in Taming of the Shrew, and which he then shared with the local press, combined with the elimination of arts funding from the Village of Oak Park<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-111233DC4EBFD160.html</ref> necessitated a decrease in the number of Actors' Equity contracts that could be offered.

In 2002 Joyce Porter,<ref>http://www.imdb.me/joyceporter</ref> an actress, director, Professor of Theatre at Moraine Valley Community College, and member of the Board of Directors since 1989, averted a vote by the board to cease production and was, shortly after, elected President of the Board. The change of leadership was greeted enthusiastically, with suggestions in the local press for additional strategies.<ref>http://www.geocities.ws/goldenforstaterepresentative/theater/index.html</ref>

Porter envisioned broadening the focus of the theater to performing classics of all eras year-round indoors as well as outdoors. The new artistic director, Jack Hickey, who had been appointed by the previous board president, worked with Porter to effect this expansion in phases. They attracted new board members and began financial reforms that led to solvency within a few years. Additional innovations under Porter’s leadership included educational programs, including a college intern program, the creation of a touring show, later revised and directed by Kevin Theis, and a summer workshop for teens. The theater, in a very real sense, owes its continued existence to the discovery of wrongdoings by Golden and the dedication of Porter.

In 2010, Kevin Theis and Belinda Bremner were elected co-presidents of the board and began the expanded four-production season with stable theatre finances.

===Productions/Actors===
For most of its history, OPFT produced almost exclusively works by William Shakespeare. These included multiple productions of ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Tempest'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''As You Like It'', and ''Romeo and Juliet'', as well as ''Julius Caesar'', ''The Comedy of Errors'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'', ''Loves Labour's Lost'', and others. It also presented notable original adaptations of classics, including ''Falstaff'' by Tom Mula and ''Don Quixote'' by Dale Calandra. In 2011 it presented the ''History of King Henry IV'', an adaptation by Stanton Davis of Shakespeare's ''Henry IV'' Henry IV, Part 1|parts 1 Henry IV, Part 2|and 2. Featured Actors' Equity members have included Chicago actors David Mamet, David Darlow,<ref>www.flixster.com/actor/david-darlow</ref> Kristine Thatcher, Kevin Theis, Don Brearley, William J. Norris, Greg Vinkler,<ref>www.peninsulaplayers.com/players/GregVinkler.html</ref> Aaron Christiansen, Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, Ray Andrecheck, Lanny Lutz, George Wilson, Kevin Gudahl, Mary Michell, Barbara Zahora, Henry Godinez, Steve Pickering, Kathey Logelin, Linda Kimborough, and others, as well as professional non-Equity actors such as Dennis Grimes, David Skvarla, Mark Richard, Michael W. Halberstam, [[Robert Petkoff]], [[Les Golden]],<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0325458/filmotype</ref> Toni Graves, Krista Lally,<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0482469/</ref> Maggie Kettering, and Anne Gottlieb.

Its expanded production schedule has included ''Faith Healer'', ''Picnic'', ''Tartuffe'', ''All My Sons'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' and other plays considered to be classics of many eras.<ref>www.oakparkfestival.com/</ref>

==Recent Productions==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Play
!Author
!Director
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| style="text-align:center;"| The Adventures of Don Quixote
| style="text-align:center;"| Miguel de Cervantes Adapted by Dale Calandra
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1999
| style="text-align:center;"| MacBeth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry Godinez
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2000
| style="text-align:center;"| Twelfth Night
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2001
| style="text-align:center;"| The Taming of the Shrew
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2002
| style="text-align:center;"| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2003
| style="text-align:center;"| As You Like It
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2004
| style="text-align:center;"| Romeo and Juliet
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Virginia Smith
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| The Comedy of Errors
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| All My Sons
| style="text-align:center;"| Arthur Miller
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Tartuffe
| style="text-align:center;"| Molière
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Julius Caesar
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Picnic
| style="text-align:center;"| William Inge
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Murder by the Book
| style="text-align:center;"| Duncan Greenwood and Robert King
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Talley’s Folly
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Robin Hood
| style="text-align:center;"| Scott Lynch-Giddings
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Blithe Spirit
| style="text-align:center;"| Noel Coward
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Much Ado About Nothing
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Dancing at Lughnasa
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Arms and the Man
| style="text-align:center;"| George Bernard Shaw
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| 5th of July
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Cyrano de Bergerac
| style="text-align:center;"| Edmond Rostand
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Of Mice and Men
| style="text-align:center;"| John Steinbeck
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Love’s Labour’s Lost
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Betrayal
| style="text-align:center;"| Harold Pinter
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Faith Healer
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| The History of King Henry the Fourth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare Adapted by Stanton Davis
| style="text-align:center;"| Stanton Davis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry V
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden/ Actor Profiles]

==Categories==
[[Category:Actors]]

Unshackled

2011-11-11T14:12:18Z

ShBoomShBoom: /* External links */

'''''Unshackled!''''' is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired in 1950. It is the longest-running radio drama in history and one of very few still in production in the United States. The show is aired over 6,500 times around the world, each week, on over 1,550 radio outlets and is translated and re-dramatized into eight languages<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.unshackled.org/| title="Unshackled!"| accessdate=2010-12-12| quote=In addition to the English broadcast, it is translated and re-dramatized in Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Romanian Polish, Korean, Persian, Albanian, and Japanese.}}</ref> on six continents.

As of March 2008, over 3,000 episodes have been produced, each 30 minutes in length. ''Unshackled!'' is produced in the same way that shows during the Golden Age of Radio were produced. Shows are transcribed (recorded) live before a studio audience. An organist provides live incidental music and a sound-effects person provides sounds in real time as the show progresses. The show has retained a consistent and distinctive quality throughout its years of production, established by the 40-year tenure, from 1950 to 1990, of Jack O'Dell as producer/director.

==Characters and stories==
Each episode dramatizes the testimony of someone who converts to Christianity, sometimes involving a visit to Pacific Garden Mission, or through hearing ''Unshackled!'' on the radio. Radio episodes include the life stories of baseball-great-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, who is a Pacific Garden Mission convert, and Dominic Mance, an international banker who became a homeless vagabond nearly overnight. Past cast and crew range from current professional actors such as Rick Plastina, [[Les Golden]], and Judith Easton to Golden Age of Radio personalities such as Bob O'Donnell, Jack Bivens, Stan Dale and Russ Reed.

The scripts are derived from actual testimonies and actual events, in the same way that ''Dragnet (series)|Dragnet'', a radio series that began its broadcasts around the same time that ''Unshackled!'' began broadcasting, is based upon actual police reports.

Beginning in the 1950s, comic book versions of ''Unshackled!'' stories have also been produced; and they, along with the radio shows themselves, are said to be highly influential on the works of Jack Chick.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unshackled.org/ ''Unshackled!'']
*[http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/unshackled/ Archive of ''Unshackled!'' shows]
*[http://onelovestudios.com/one_love_studios_021.htm ''The Dominic Mance Story'']
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden/ Actor Profiles]

[[Category:Actors]]

Oak Park Festival Theatre

2011-11-11T14:11:15Z

ShBoomShBoom: /* External Links */

'''Oak Park Festival Theatre''' is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident and arts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively by William Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants, Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, and Metra and CTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

Audience members in Austin Gardens often picnic before performances. Occasionally, special performances by the Oak Park Recorder Society or other pre-show events are presented. Special Family Day performances and child-centered special crafts, games, and activities are held at least twice a summer to encourage families to introduce their children to Shakespeare.

==History==
===Predecessor===
Oak Park had a Shakespeare theatre previous to OPFT. In the 1960s producers Josephine Forsberg, Ed Udovic, and actor-director Lee Henry created Village Classics Theatre and produced ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Richard III'', and other productions outdoors on the hill of Field Playground under the auspices of the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park. Actors who performed included Equity performers Val Bettin, Robert Kidd, Tom Elrod, and Angel Casey as well as Oak Park residents [[Les Golden]], Clifford Osborne, and Nick Cotsonas. The hill was, at that time, crowned on all sides with numerous large bushes and small trees, providing a natural set for battle scenes and forest liaisons. The professionality of the productions brought, among others, esteemed ''Chicago Tribune'' drama critic Richard Christiansen, a native Oak Parker, to the theatre.

===Early Decades===
Oak Park Festival Theatre was begun in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident.<ref>New Theatre in Town, Oak Park World, March 15, 1975</ref> Its first production was ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with a cast that included David Mamet and William H. Macy. Its artistic directors since then have included Patrick O'Gara, Tom Mula, David Darlow, Dale Calandra, and Jack Hickey.

The 1980s were heady years for the theater. With numerous Actors' Equity contracts attracting Chicago professional actors and the presence of talented non-Equity actors, audiences numbering in the 300s and 400s came to see Shakespeare under the stars.

===Later Decades===
The 1990s began some difficult years for OPFT. During this time the number of Chicago area theaters quadrupled and other theaters, inspired by Festival Theatre's success, began to produce Shakespeare on a regular basis. The resulting decrease in attendance compounded by some questionable management decisions which were discovered by actor [[Les Golden]] in 2001 when he was cast as Gremio in Taming of the Shrew, and which he then shared with the local press and influential board member Joyce Porter, combined with the elimination of arts funding from the Village of Oak Park<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-111233DC4EBFD160.html</ref> necessitated a decrease in the number of Actors' Equity contracts that could be offered.

In 2002 Joyce Porter,<ref>http://www.imdb.me/joyceporter</ref> an actress, director, Professor of Theatre at Moraine Valley Community College, and member of the Board of Directors since 1989, averted a vote by the board to cease production and was, shortly after, elected President of the Board. The change of leadership was greeted enthusiastically, with suggestions in the local press for additional strategies.<ref>http://www.geocities.ws/goldenforstaterepresentative/theater/index.html</ref>

Porter envisioned broadening the focus of the theater to performing classics of all eras year-round indoors as well as outdoors. The new artistic director, Jack Hickey, who had been appointed by the previous board president, worked with Porter to effect this expansion in phases. They attracted new board members and began financial reforms that led to solvency within a few years. Additional innovations under Porter’s leadership included educational programs, including a college intern program, the creation of a touring show, later revised and directed by Kevin Theis, and a summer workshop for teens. The theater, in a very real sense, owes its continued existence to the discovery of wrongdoings by Golden and the dedication of Porter.

In 2010, Kevin Theis and Belinda Bremner were elected co-presidents of the board and began the expanded four-production season with stable theatre finances. A discouraging trend toward self-casting among Theis, Bremner, and Hickey caused concern among theater veterans that the problems of the 1990's and early 2000's were going to reappear despite Porter's reforms and expansion of theatre activities.

===Productions/Actors===
For most of its history, OPFT produced almost exclusively works by William Shakespeare. These included multiple productions of ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Tempest'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''As You Like It'', and ''Romeo and Juliet'', as well as ''Julius Caesar'', ''The Comedy of Errors'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'', ''Loves Labour's Lost'', and others. It also presented notable original adaptations of classics, including ''Falstaff'' by Tom Mula and ''Don Quixote'' by Dale Calandra. In 2011 it presented the ''History of King Henry IV'', an adaptation by Stanton Davis of Shakespeare's ''Henry IV'' Henry IV, Part 1|parts 1 Henry IV, Part 2|and 2. Featured Actors' Equity members have included Chicago actors David Mamet, David Darlow,<ref>www.flixster.com/actor/david-darlow</ref> Kristine Thatcher, Kevin Theis, Don Brearley, William J. Norris, Greg Vinkler,<ref>www.peninsulaplayers.com/players/GregVinkler.html</ref> Aaron Christiansen, Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, Ray Andrecheck, Lanny Lutz, George Wilson, Kevin Gudahl, Mary Michell, Barbara Zahora, Henry Godinez, Steve Pickering, Kathey Logelin, Linda Kimborough, and others, as well as professional non-Equity actors such as Dennis Grimes, David Skvarla, Mark Richard, Michael W. Halberstam, [[Robert Petkoff]], [[Les Golden]],<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0325458/filmotype</ref> Toni Graves, Krista Lally,<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0482469/</ref> Maggie Kettering, and Anne Gottlieb.

Its expanded production schedule has included ''Faith Healer'', ''Picnic'', ''Tartuffe'', ''All My Sons'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' and other plays considered to be classics of many eras.<ref>www.oakparkfestival.com/</ref>

==Recent Productions==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Play
!Author
!Director
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| style="text-align:center;"| The Adventures of Don Quixote
| style="text-align:center;"| Miguel de Cervantes Adapted by Dale Calandra
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1999
| style="text-align:center;"| MacBeth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry Godinez
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2000
| style="text-align:center;"| Twelfth Night
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2001
| style="text-align:center;"| The Taming of the Shrew
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2002
| style="text-align:center;"| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2003
| style="text-align:center;"| As You Like It
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2004
| style="text-align:center;"| Romeo and Juliet
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Virginia Smith
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| The Comedy of Errors
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| All My Sons
| style="text-align:center;"| Arthur Miller
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Tartuffe
| style="text-align:center;"| Molière
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Julius Caesar
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Picnic
| style="text-align:center;"| William Inge
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Murder by the Book
| style="text-align:center;"| Duncan Greenwood and Robert King
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Talley’s Folly
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Robin Hood
| style="text-align:center;"| Scott Lynch-Giddings
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Blithe Spirit
| style="text-align:center;"| Noel Coward
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Much Ado About Nothing
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Dancing at Lughnasa
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Arms and the Man
| style="text-align:center;"| George Bernard Shaw
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| 5th of July
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Cyrano de Bergerac
| style="text-align:center;"| Edmond Rostand
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Of Mice and Men
| style="text-align:center;"| John Steinbeck
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Love’s Labour’s Lost
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Betrayal
| style="text-align:center;"| Harold Pinter
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Faith Healer
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| The History of King Henry the Fourth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare Adapted by Stanton Davis
| style="text-align:center;"| Stanton Davis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry V
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Directory:Les_Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden/ Actor Profiles]

==Categories==
[[Category:Actors]]

Oak Park Festival Theatre

2011-11-11T14:09:19Z

ShBoomShBoom:

'''Oak Park Festival Theatre''' is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident and arts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively by William Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants, Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, and Metra and CTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

Audience members in Austin Gardens often picnic before performances. Occasionally, special performances by the Oak Park Recorder Society or other pre-show events are presented. Special Family Day performances and child-centered special crafts, games, and activities are held at least twice a summer to encourage families to introduce their children to Shakespeare.

==History==
===Predecessor===
Oak Park had a Shakespeare theatre previous to OPFT. In the 1960s producers Josephine Forsberg, Ed Udovic, and actor-director Lee Henry created Village Classics Theatre and produced ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Richard III'', and other productions outdoors on the hill of Field Playground under the auspices of the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park. Actors who performed included Equity performers Val Bettin, Robert Kidd, Tom Elrod, and Angel Casey as well as Oak Park residents [[Les Golden]], Clifford Osborne, and Nick Cotsonas. The hill was, at that time, crowned on all sides with numerous large bushes and small trees, providing a natural set for battle scenes and forest liaisons. The professionality of the productions brought, among others, esteemed ''Chicago Tribune'' drama critic Richard Christiansen, a native Oak Parker, to the theatre.

===Early Decades===
Oak Park Festival Theatre was begun in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident.<ref>New Theatre in Town, Oak Park World, March 15, 1975</ref> Its first production was ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with a cast that included David Mamet and William H. Macy. Its artistic directors since then have included Patrick O'Gara, Tom Mula, David Darlow, Dale Calandra, and Jack Hickey.

The 1980s were heady years for the theater. With numerous Actors' Equity contracts attracting Chicago professional actors and the presence of talented non-Equity actors, audiences numbering in the 300s and 400s came to see Shakespeare under the stars.

===Later Decades===
The 1990s began some difficult years for OPFT. During this time the number of Chicago area theaters quadrupled and other theaters, inspired by Festival Theatre's success, began to produce Shakespeare on a regular basis. The resulting decrease in attendance compounded by some questionable management decisions which were discovered by actor [[Les Golden]] in 2001 when he was cast as Gremio in Taming of the Shrew, and which he then shared with the local press and influential board member Joyce Porter, combined with the elimination of arts funding from the Village of Oak Park<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-111233DC4EBFD160.html</ref> necessitated a decrease in the number of Actors' Equity contracts that could be offered.

In 2002 Joyce Porter,<ref>http://www.imdb.me/joyceporter</ref> an actress, director, Professor of Theatre at Moraine Valley Community College, and member of the Board of Directors since 1989, averted a vote by the board to cease production and was, shortly after, elected President of the Board. The change of leadership was greeted enthusiastically, with suggestions in the local press for additional strategies.<ref>http://www.geocities.ws/goldenforstaterepresentative/theater/index.html</ref>

Porter envisioned broadening the focus of the theater to performing classics of all eras year-round indoors as well as outdoors. The new artistic director, Jack Hickey, who had been appointed by the previous board president, worked with Porter to effect this expansion in phases. They attracted new board members and began financial reforms that led to solvency within a few years. Additional innovations under Porter’s leadership included educational programs, including a college intern program, the creation of a touring show, later revised and directed by Kevin Theis, and a summer workshop for teens. The theater, in a very real sense, owes its continued existence to the discovery of wrongdoings by Golden and the dedication of Porter.

In 2010, Kevin Theis and Belinda Bremner were elected co-presidents of the board and began the expanded four-production season with stable theatre finances. A discouraging trend toward self-casting among Theis, Bremner, and Hickey caused concern among theater veterans that the problems of the 1990's and early 2000's were going to reappear despite Porter's reforms and expansion of theatre activities.

===Productions/Actors===
For most of its history, OPFT produced almost exclusively works by William Shakespeare. These included multiple productions of ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Tempest'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''As You Like It'', and ''Romeo and Juliet'', as well as ''Julius Caesar'', ''The Comedy of Errors'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'', ''Loves Labour's Lost'', and others. It also presented notable original adaptations of classics, including ''Falstaff'' by Tom Mula and ''Don Quixote'' by Dale Calandra. In 2011 it presented the ''History of King Henry IV'', an adaptation by Stanton Davis of Shakespeare's ''Henry IV'' Henry IV, Part 1|parts 1 Henry IV, Part 2|and 2. Featured Actors' Equity members have included Chicago actors David Mamet, David Darlow,<ref>www.flixster.com/actor/david-darlow</ref> Kristine Thatcher, Kevin Theis, Don Brearley, William J. Norris, Greg Vinkler,<ref>www.peninsulaplayers.com/players/GregVinkler.html</ref> Aaron Christiansen, Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, Ray Andrecheck, Lanny Lutz, George Wilson, Kevin Gudahl, Mary Michell, Barbara Zahora, Henry Godinez, Steve Pickering, Kathey Logelin, Linda Kimborough, and others, as well as professional non-Equity actors such as Dennis Grimes, David Skvarla, Mark Richard, Michael W. Halberstam, [[Robert Petkoff]], [[Les Golden]],<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0325458/filmotype</ref> Toni Graves, Krista Lally,<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0482469/</ref> Maggie Kettering, and Anne Gottlieb.

Its expanded production schedule has included ''Faith Healer'', ''Picnic'', ''Tartuffe'', ''All My Sons'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' and other plays considered to be classics of many eras.<ref>www.oakparkfestival.com/</ref>

==Recent Productions==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Play
!Author
!Director
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| style="text-align:center;"| The Adventures of Don Quixote
| style="text-align:center;"| Miguel de Cervantes Adapted by Dale Calandra
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1999
| style="text-align:center;"| MacBeth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry Godinez
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2000
| style="text-align:center;"| Twelfth Night
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2001
| style="text-align:center;"| The Taming of the Shrew
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2002
| style="text-align:center;"| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2003
| style="text-align:center;"| As You Like It
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2004
| style="text-align:center;"| Romeo and Juliet
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Virginia Smith
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| The Comedy of Errors
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| All My Sons
| style="text-align:center;"| Arthur Miller
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Tartuffe
| style="text-align:center;"| Molière
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Julius Caesar
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Picnic
| style="text-align:center;"| William Inge
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Murder by the Book
| style="text-align:center;"| Duncan Greenwood and Robert King
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Talley’s Folly
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Robin Hood
| style="text-align:center;"| Scott Lynch-Giddings
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Blithe Spirit
| style="text-align:center;"| Noel Coward
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Much Ado About Nothing
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Dancing at Lughnasa
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Arms and the Man
| style="text-align:center;"| George Bernard Shaw
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| 5th of July
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Cyrano de Bergerac
| style="text-align:center;"| Edmond Rostand
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Of Mice and Men
| style="text-align:center;"| John Steinbeck
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Love’s Labour’s Lost
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Betrayal
| style="text-align:center;"| Harold Pinter
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Faith Healer
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| The History of King Henry the Fourth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare Adapted by Stanton Davis
| style="text-align:center;"| Stanton Davis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry V
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Director:Les Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden/ Actor Profiles]

==Categories==
[[Category:Actors]]

Unshackled

2011-11-11T14:02:47Z

ShBoomShBoom:

'''''Unshackled!''''' is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired in 1950. It is the longest-running radio drama in history and one of very few still in production in the United States. The show is aired over 6,500 times around the world, each week, on over 1,550 radio outlets and is translated and re-dramatized into eight languages<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.unshackled.org/| title="Unshackled!"| accessdate=2010-12-12| quote=In addition to the English broadcast, it is translated and re-dramatized in Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Romanian Polish, Korean, Persian, Albanian, and Japanese.}}</ref> on six continents.

As of March 2008, over 3,000 episodes have been produced, each 30 minutes in length. ''Unshackled!'' is produced in the same way that shows during the Golden Age of Radio were produced. Shows are transcribed (recorded) live before a studio audience. An organist provides live incidental music and a sound-effects person provides sounds in real time as the show progresses. The show has retained a consistent and distinctive quality throughout its years of production, established by the 40-year tenure, from 1950 to 1990, of Jack O'Dell as producer/director.

==Characters and stories==
Each episode dramatizes the testimony of someone who converts to Christianity, sometimes involving a visit to Pacific Garden Mission, or through hearing ''Unshackled!'' on the radio. Radio episodes include the life stories of baseball-great-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, who is a Pacific Garden Mission convert, and Dominic Mance, an international banker who became a homeless vagabond nearly overnight. Past cast and crew range from current professional actors such as Rick Plastina, [[Les Golden]], and Judith Easton to Golden Age of Radio personalities such as Bob O'Donnell, Jack Bivens, Stan Dale and Russ Reed.

The scripts are derived from actual testimonies and actual events, in the same way that ''Dragnet (series)|Dragnet'', a radio series that began its broadcasts around the same time that ''Unshackled!'' began broadcasting, is based upon actual police reports.

Beginning in the 1950s, comic book versions of ''Unshackled!'' stories have also been produced; and they, along with the radio shows themselves, are said to be highly influential on the works of Jack Chick.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unshackled.org/ ''Unshackled!'']
*[http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/unshackled/ Archive of ''Unshackled!'' shows]
*[http://onelovestudios.com/one_love_studios_021.htm ''The Dominic Mance Story'']
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Les Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Director:Les Golden/ Current Actors]
*[http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden/ Actor Profiles]

[[Category:Actors]]

Oak Park Festival Theatre

2011-11-11T13:33:03Z

ShBoomShBoom: Created page with ''''Oak Park Festival Theatre''' is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion…'

'''Oak Park Festival Theatre''' is a professional theatre company in Oak Park, Illinois, under contract with Actors' Equity Association. The company was founded in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident and arts patron, and performed Renaissance works, almost exclusively by William Shakespeare, until 2004, when it broadened its scope to classics of other eras. Its outdoor venue has been Austin Gardens, a wooded park near downtown Oak Park within walking distance from restaurants, Frank Lloyd Wright landmarks, and Metra and CTA trains. To attract a greater following, Renaissance, classical, and modern American works were added to the offerings, some being produced indoors in historic Farson-Mills Home and, in the 2010-11 season, in the studio space in the Madison Street Theatre.

Audience members in Austin Gardens often picnic before performances. Occasionally, special performances by the Oak Park Recorder Society or other pre-show events are presented. Special Family Day performances and child-centered special crafts, games, and activities are held at least twice a summer to encourage families to introduce their children to Shakespeare.

==History==
===Predecessor===
Oak Park had a Shakespeare theatre previous to OPFT. In the 1960s producers Josephine Forsberg, Ed Udovic, and actor-director Lee Henry created Village Classics Theatre and produced ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Richard III'', and other productions outdoors on the hill of Field Playground under the auspices of the Recreation Department of the Village of Oak Park. Actors who performed included Equity performers Val Bettin, Robert Kidd, Tom Elrod, and Angel Casey as well as Oak Park residents [[Les Golden]], Clifford Osborne, and Nick Cotsonas. The hill was, at that time, crowned on all sides with numerous large bushes and small trees, providing a natural set for battle scenes and forest liaisons. The professionality of the productions brought, among others, esteemed ''Chicago Tribune'' drama critic Richard Christiansen, a native Oak Parker, to the theatre.

===Early Decades===
Oak Park Festival Theatre was begun in 1975 by Marion Kaczmar, an Oak Park resident.<ref>New Theatre in Town, Oak Park World, March 15, 1975</ref> Its first production was ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' with a cast that included David Mamet and William H. Macy. Its artistic directors since then have included Patrick O'Gara, Tom Mula, David Darlow, Dale Calandra, and Jack Hickey.

The 1980s were heady years for the theater. With numerous Actors' Equity contracts attracting Chicago professional actors and the presence of talented non-Equity actors, audiences numbering in the 300s and 400s came to see Shakespeare under the stars.

===Later Decades===
The 1990s began some difficult years for OPFT. During this time the number of Chicago area theaters quadrupled and other theaters, inspired by Festival Theatre's success, began to produce Shakespeare on a regular basis. The resulting decrease in attendance compounded by some questionable management decisions and the elimination of arts funding from the Village of Oak Park<ref>http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-111233DC4EBFD160.html</ref> necessitated a decrease in the number of Actors' Equity contracts that could be offered.

In 2002 Joyce Porter,<ref>http://www.imdb.me/joyceporter</ref> an actress, director, Professor of Theatre at Moraine Valley Community College, and member of the Board of Directors since 1989, averted a vote by the board to cease production and was, shortly after, elected President of the Board. The change of leadership was greeted enthusiastically, with suggestions in the local press for additional strategies.<ref>http://www.geocities.ws/goldenforstaterepresentative/theater/index.html</ref>

Porter envisioned broadening the focus of the theater to performing classics of all eras year-round indoors as well as outdoors. The new artistic director, Jack Hickey, who had been appointed by the previous board president, worked with Porter to effect this expansion in phases. They attracted new board members and began financial reforms that led to solvency within a few years. Additional innovations under Porter’s leadership included educational programs, including a college intern program, the creation of a touring show, later revised and directed by Kevin Theis, and a summer workshop for teens. The theater, in a very real sense, owes its continued existence to the dedication of Porter and Hickey.

In 2010, Kevin Theis and Belinda Bremner were elected co-presidents of the board and began the expanded four-production season with stable theatre finances.

===Productions/Actors===
For most of its history, OPFT produced almost exclusively works by William Shakespeare. These included multiple productions of ''The Taming of the Shrew'', ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''The Tempest'', ''The Merchant of Venice'', ''As You Like It'', and ''Romeo and Juliet'', as well as ''Julius Caesar'', ''The Comedy of Errors'', ''Hamlet'', ''Macbeth'', ''Loves Labour's Lost'', and others. It also presented notable original adaptations of classics, including ''Falstaff'' by Tom Mula and ''Don Quixote'' by Dale Calandra. In 2011 it presented the ''History of King Henry IV'', an adaptation by Stanton Davis of Shakespeare's ''Henry IV'' Henry IV, Part 1|parts 1 Henry IV, Part 2|and 2. Featured Actors' Equity members have included Chicago actors David Mamet, David Darlow,<ref>www.flixster.com/actor/david-darlow</ref> Kristine Thatcher, Kevin Theis, Don Brearley, William J. Norris, Greg Vinkler,<ref>www.peninsulaplayers.com/players/GregVinkler.html</ref> Aaron Christiansen, Ned Mochel, Susan Hart, Ray Andrecheck, Lanny Lutz, George Wilson, Kevin Gudahl, Mary Michell, Barbara Zahora, Henry Godinez, Steve Pickering, Kathey Logelin, Linda Kimborough, and others, as well as professional non-Equity actors such as Dennis Grimes, David Skvarla, Mark Richard, Michael W. Halberstam, [[Robert Petkoff]], [[Les Golden]],<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0325458/filmotype</ref> Toni Graves, Krista Lally,<ref>www.imdb.com/name/nm0482469/</ref> Maggie Kettering, and Anne Gottlieb.

Its expanded production schedule has included ''Faith Healer'', ''Picnic'', ''Tartuffe'', ''All My Sons'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' and other plays considered to be classics of many eras.<ref>www.oakparkfestival.com/</ref>

==Recent Productions==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Play
!Author
!Director
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1998
| style="text-align:center;"| The Adventures of Don Quixote
| style="text-align:center;"| Miguel de Cervantes Adapted by Dale Calandra
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 1999
| style="text-align:center;"| MacBeth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry Godinez
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2000
| style="text-align:center;"| Twelfth Night
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2001
| style="text-align:center;"| The Taming of the Shrew
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2002
| style="text-align:center;"| A Midsummer Night's Dream
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Dale Calandra
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2003
| style="text-align:center;"| As You Like It
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2004
| style="text-align:center;"| Romeo and Juliet
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Virginia Smith
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| The Comedy of Errors
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2005
| style="text-align:center;"| All My Sons
| style="text-align:center;"| Arthur Miller
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Tartuffe
| style="text-align:center;"| Molière
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Julius Caesar
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2006
| style="text-align:center;"| Picnic
| style="text-align:center;"| William Inge
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Murder by the Book
| style="text-align:center;"| Duncan Greenwood and Robert King
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Talley’s Folly
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2007
| style="text-align:center;"| Robin Hood
| style="text-align:center;"| Scott Lynch-Giddings
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Blithe Spirit
| style="text-align:center;"| Noel Coward
| style="text-align:center;"| David Mink
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Much Ado About Nothing
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2008
| style="text-align:center;"| Dancing at Lughnasa
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Arms and the Man
| style="text-align:center;"| George Bernard Shaw
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| 5th of July
| style="text-align:center;"| Lanford Wilson
| style="text-align:center;"| Michael Weber
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2009
| style="text-align:center;"| Cyrano de Bergerac
| style="text-align:center;"| Edmond Rostand
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Of Mice and Men
| style="text-align:center;"| John Steinbeck
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Love’s Labour’s Lost
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Jack Hickey
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2010
| style="text-align:center;"| Betrayal
| style="text-align:center;"| Harold Pinter
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Christopher Fox
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Faith Healer
| style="text-align:center;"| Brian Friel
| style="text-align:center;"| Belinda Bremner
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| The History of King Henry the Fourth
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare Adapted by Stanton Davis
| style="text-align:center;"| Stanton Davis
|-
| style="text-align:center;"| 2011
| style="text-align:center;"| Henry V
| style="text-align:center;"| Wm. Shakespeare
| style="text-align:center;"| Kevin Theis
|-
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
[www.mywikibiz.com/Les Golden] Actors in OPFT

==Categories==
[[Category:Actors]]

Unshackled

2011-11-11T13:27:36Z

ShBoomShBoom:

Unshackled

2011-11-11T13:26:08Z

ShBoomShBoom:

Unshackled

2011-11-11T13:24:19Z

ShBoomShBoom: Created page with ''''''Unshackled!''''' is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired in 1950. It is the longest-running radio drama in history…'

'''''Unshackled!''''' is a radio drama series produced by Pacific Garden Mission, in Chicago, Illinois, that first aired in 1950. It is the longest-running radio drama in history and one of very few still in production in the United States. The show is aired over 6,500 times around the world, each week, on over 1,550 radio outlets and is translated and re-dramatized into eight languages<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.unshackled.org/| title="Unshackled!"| accessdate=2010-12-12| quote=In addition to the English broadcast, it is translated and re-dramatized in Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Romanian Polish, Korean, Persian, Albanian, and Japanese.}}</ref> on six continents.

As of March 2008, over 3,000 episodes have been produced, each 30 minutes in length. ''Unshackled!'' is produced in the same way that shows during the Golden Age of Radio were produced. Shows are transcribed (recorded) live before a studio audience. An organist provides live incidental music and a sound-effects person provides sounds in real time as the show progresses. The show has retained a consistent and distinctive quality throughout its years of production, established by the 40-year tenure, from 1950 to 1990, of Jack O'Dell as producer/director.

==Characters and stories==
Each episode dramatizes the testimony of someone who converts to Christianity, sometimes involving a visit to Pacific Garden Mission, or through hearing ''Unshackled!'' on the radio. Radio episodes include the life stories of baseball-great-turned-evangelist Billy Sunday, who is a Pacific Garden Mission convert, and Dominic Mance, an international banker who became a homeless vagabond nearly overnight. Past cast and crew range from current actors such as Rick Plastina, [[Les Golden]], and Pamela Easton to Golden Age of Radio personalities such as Bob O'Donnell, Jack Bivens, Stan Dale and Russ Reed.

The scripts are derived from actual testimonies and actual events, in the same way that ''Dragnet (series)|Dragnet'', a radio series that began its broadcasts around the same time that ''Unshackled!'' began broadcasting, is based upon actual police reports.

Beginning in the 1950s, comic book versions of ''Unshackled!'' stories have also been produced; and they, along with the radio shows themselves, are said to be highly influential on the works of Jack Chick.{{Fact|date=April 2007}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.unshackled.org/ ''Unshackled!'']
*[http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/unshackled/ Archive of ''Unshackled!'' shows]
*[http://onelovestudios.com/one_love_studios_021.htm ''The Dominic Mance Story'']

[[Category:American religious radio programs]]
[[Category:Christian fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Christian media]]
[[Category:American radio drama]]
[[Category:American radio programs]]
[[Category:1950s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1960s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1970s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1980s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1990s American radio programs]]
[[Category:2000s American radio programs]]