Mykita in Surrey

June 22, 2009

About Mykita UK

MYKITA was founded 2003 by Harald Gottschling, Daniel Haffmans, Philipp Haffmans and Moritz Krueger. What to some may sound like an Asian-style name was in fact inspired by the firm’s first premises – a former day-care centre for children (in East Germany abbreviated to „Kita“).
Just a year later, the world was introduced to MYKITA *Collection No.1* – an evolutionary step up in terms of both design and exclusivity. The all-new range of metal frames was unveiled at the Silmo international eyewear fair in the fall of 2004. A highly innovative functional design comprising simple plug connections made complex soldered joints and screw connections redundant, while the frames themselves were cut out of stainless sheet steel before being folded into form. As well as being incredibly light, the latter could be adjusted to the wearer thanks to a wide variety of configuration options. The corrective spectacles andunglasses in the collection ranged from the classically elegant to avantgarde designs in a wide range of frame colours. A frame for every face. Exactly two years later, a new collection was unveiled at the 2006 Silmo. In a marked departure from previous frames, MYKITA *Collection No.2* were made from full-bodied acetate – a material that enjoys a huge tradition in the eyewear industry. What set the new spectacles apart was the hinge – a connecting element that hugs the front and temples in the style of a sheath. The designs are crisp, clear and distinctive and are each related to frames from the metal collection. A carefully selected range of nine distinct colours gives *Collection No.2* a varied but nonetheless homogenous collective look. All frames are hand-made at MYKITA’s own production site in Berlin and are available at over 1,400 high-end opticians and selected department stores across the globe.

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These glasses are made with top-quality stainless steel, just 0.5 mm thick, ensuring an ultra-light feel. The actual production of MYKITA eyewear sees every part of the frame cut out of sheet metal and folded into a lightweight but full-bodied format. Linking these is a remarkably elegant and intelligent screw-less hinge design that ensures total flexibility and allows complete, custom-fit adaptability of inclination and frame according to the wearers’ facial proportions. The technical wizardry is coupled with aesthetic clarity and optimum vision to provide a recognisable trademark for MYKITA. To apply most of the colours featured in the collection, MYKITA chose a PVD finish – a state-of-the-art vacuum-heat coating technique that guarantees a non-oxidizing and highly wear-resistant surface. The prescription frames in *Collection No.1* are available in a choice of ten colours, the sunglasses in eight colours. MYKITA collection No. 1 – over 50 styles available in a choice of 10 colours.

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The MYKITA design team had for some time been planning to make a collection incorporating a fuller-bodied material, and eventually decided on cellulose acetate. Basically composed of cotton, wood pulp, acetate and pigments, it is a natural material that has a long tradition in the eyewear industry. *Collection No.2* indeed shares a variety of features with the original concept. It features a “snap-hinge” made of 0.8 mm flat sheet metal familiar from the construction principles applied in the first collection. A major new innovation was the use of photomechanical etching technology. The connection point between the hinge and the acetate frame likewise represented a unique challenge for the designers. The fourteen prescription styles and six sunglasses are available in a range of opaque colours, with no lamination.

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Report on Mykita done by The AgenC

Mykita London

About Mykita: Mykita London, Mykita England, Mykita UK, Mykita Ireland, Mykita Mauritius, Mykita Seychelles, Mykita Namibia & Mykita South Africa

Mykita

Mykita glasses are made with the best-quality stainless steel ensuring an ultra-light feel. Each part of the frame is folded into a lightweight but full-bodied format. A state of the art vacuum-heat coating guarantees non-oxidizing and highly wear-resistant finishes. MYKITA frames are all about: timeless designs, lightweight, flexibility, and comfort

David Coulthard and Eddie have no similar problems – this is them tucking into some nosh during Q1 on Saturday.

Eddie Jordan in Mykita having a bite with David Coulthard

Jordan doubts FOTA split

Eddie Jordan believes that the Formula One Teams’ Assocation (FOTA) would be able to sustain its own breakaway series next year. The FOTA announced early on Friday morning at Silverstone that it would be breaking away from Formula One next year, after failing to find a compromise with governing body the FIA over the ongoing budget cap issue.

With the FIA having insisted a cap and teams still unhappy with the proposal, FOTA announced that all of its members (which includes all current teams apart from Williams and Force India) would be departing F1 at the end of this season. Eddie, who ran Jordan Grand Prix between 1991 and 2005, is not convinced towards the outcome of the situation.

“It’s posturing, but it has become very serious and heads will roll before this sorts itself out,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. The former team owner went on to describe that there is ‘absolutely no chance’ that the sport would be able to progress in a healthy state when two rival series are at war.

Mykita wearing Eddie Jordan at Silverstone F1 today

EJ at Silverstone today

Mykita on Eddie Jordan

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull racing dominated the British Grand Prix to win in style at Silverstone on Sunday afternoon. Mark Webber completed a magical day in the team’s home race as Rubens Barrichello completed the podium for Brawn. Championship leader Jenson Button had retained his grid position by the time the chequered flag fell, crossing the line in sixth place.

Mykita Wearing Eddie Jordan Interview

Fifty minutes of the interview have elapsed and Eddie Jordan has pushed back his chair and jumped to his feet. He is foaming at the mouth and swearing like Gordon Ramsay. He is pointing his finger angrily at my chest and hammering the table with rage.

Eddie Jordan in Mykita at Silverstone Grand Prix

“I’ve seen how desperately in need of help these kids are and we’ve got to do something about it, you f****** included,” he fumes. “We need to give these kids a focus. Don’t bang them up in nick — it f****** doesn’t work!” The kids are the subjects of a new reality TV series that begins a five-week run on C5 tomorrow evening. Eddie Jordan’s Bad Boy Racers charts the progress of eight young offenders from tough suburbs of London who embark on a seven-week course in motoring and mechanical skills and are shown an alternative to a life of crime.

“Eddie Jordan has always done things the hard way,” a narrator announces as the opening credits roll. “He made his millions in Formula One, the toughest, richest and most competitive sport in the world. He’s the man who discovered Michael Schumacher and single-handedly took on the might of Ferrari and McLaren. Now Eddie is facing his toughest ever challenge; he is trying to transform the lives of eight hardened car criminals.”

“The series is made now,” Jordan explains, “and some of them are training with Honda and some are with Audi and Volkswagen, but I don’t want this to be about the chosen few. There are thousands more of these kids out there. I know what can be achieved; I know what needs to be done. I want the government and the people of the world to start thinking about this.

“These are not bad boys, in fact they are not bad at all, but when you put them all together in a group, they become horrors. We need to start looking at new ways to address the problem. It doesn’t have to be a garage, it can be an MoT station or work experience with The Sunday Times. We don’t need masses of kids locked up in jails. Prison is not a deterrent to these kids — most reoffend — it just doesn’t work. We’re only addressing the symptoms of the problem; we need to address the causes.”

He fixes me with a curious gaze and sits down to catch his breath. He presents his case with the same passion and conviction as Bono and Sir Bob Geldof on Third World debt and the starving in Africa, but I’m not sure that I am convinced. The series is being promoted as entertainment with a social conscience, and I’m curious about the mix.

The 58-year-old Dubliner is unquestionably the most entertaining team boss in the history of F1, but nobody has ever mistaken Jordan for Mother Teresa. He lives in Wentworth, he drives an Aston Martin and he parties with the social elite. He is a shareholder at Celtic, loves the scent of a deal and is a regular at Stamford Bridge. He is a patron of the child leukaemia charity CLIC, but is entering new ground with these juvenile delinquents.

This is my dilemma: would you buy a lecture on the ills of social deprivation from a man wearing a designer suit, with an office near Park Lane?

WE MEET on a sunny Tuesday morning at the offices of Jordan Media in Park Street, close to the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair. He bounds into the boardroom clutching a mug of coffee and is charm personified for almost an hour. Then the interview suddenly ignites from an innocent inquiry about his new company.

“Jordan Media is just something that owns the rights to the format (for the programme),” he explains. “I got no money for this; I didn’t want any money — that was very important. People will naturally say, ‘Ah, motor racing, money, TV — it’s a money-spinning exercise; he’s doing a Simon Cowell’. But I’m not. It cost me and I’m quite happy that it cost me.”

How much did it cost? “I don’t know. I haven’t a clue; I didn’t even think about what it cost me.”

You don’t honestly expect me to believe that? “No, but you’re a complete cynic, aren’t you? You’ve always been a cynic. I was thinking about you the other day when that Floyd Landis (the American Tour de France cyclist) tested positive. It must have made your day. I knew when I was doing this interview that there’d be a spin on it.”

What about the charge that you are exploiting these kids for entertainment? “No,” he replies. “I know what I’ve done. I know what was achieved. I know what can be achieved. Banging these kids up is not a solution.”

What about the charge that you don’t really give a damn about them? That you will go back to your comfortable home and your wealthy friends and life will move on? “Well, it’s possible that could happen,” he says. “The kids may not want to continue (with their training) but I hope that they will. I speak to them on a regular basis; I spoke to one of them this morning . . .

“They’re hopeless at getting up in the morning — that’s a thing I’ve noticed with young kids: they cannot get out of bed. You’d tell them, ‘Okay, we are on the bus at six tomorrow morning’, but we wouldn’t be able to leave until a quarter to seven. They just wouldn’t turn up. It just didn’t register with them. You give them a time and it’s in one ear and out the other. But I have that with my own kids, so it’s not just them.”

I laugh and ask if he is still buying racehorses.

“I’ve got a few legs with Mouse (the Irish trainer Mouse Morris),” he says.

You had one great one — what was its name? “Rostropovich?” No, not that one. Master-something.

“Master Of Illusion?” Yeah, that’s it, I say with a smile, the Master Of Illusion.

“You liked that,” he observes. “Good name, wasn’t it?” It was a great name, I reply. It was absolutely perfect.

“What do you mean perfect?” he asks warily. “Are you implying it had something to do with me? What’s the point you’re making here? I need to know.”

Why? “Because I haven’t got a clue how you’ll write this.”

Trust me, I smile.

“I’ve always trusted you,” he says. “But you are very unpredictable. There will be an edge to this because that’s your nature — you like to have a cut. You don’t like writing pretty pieces because it’s not your style. And I know your style, the same as you know my style.”

FIFTEEN summers have passed since the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours when I first succumbed to the charms of the Master of Illusion. It was a glorious Saturday afternoon on the first weekend of July and he was sitting on some tyres, chatting to one of the mechanics after the qualifying session when I nervously approached.

It was my second year as a reporter and I had been commissioned to write a feature on the proprietor of the new Irish F1 team that was grabbing the headlines in its debut season.

“What do you know about F1?” Jordan asked.

Nothing, I replied innocently, sure it was the wrong answer. But he put his arm around me with a twinkle in his eyes.

“Perfect,” he said, smiling.

My education started with a tour of the Jordan garage, where John “John Boy” Walton, a Dubliner like Jordan, was supervising work on one of the cars. Jordan called him over and began an interrogation.

“What team were you with last year, John Boy?” “Benetton,” Walton replied.

“And why did you leave Benetton to come back to work with me?” “Coz you’re my hero.”

“Stop messin’ about, John Boy . . . why?” “I’m tellin’ you,” Walton insisted. “Coz you’re my hero. I always said I’d be back when you came into F1.”

Such was/is the enchantment of Jordan. “He has the annoying habit of making you want to believe in him,” Giselle Davies, a former team media manager, once observed. “It’s a sort of heart-and-head thing. You are listening to him and your head is saying this is all nonsense, but the other side of you is saying that this is believable, and you feel drawn by it all the time. It is the power he has over people.”

And by the end of the weekend I had joined the ranks of the bewitched.

Over the next five years, as my career in journalism progressed, I became a Jordan correspondent, penning stories on his march to the motor racing summit from the four corners of the globe. He was always a great interview, always brilliant, but access became more difficult once you had been lured to the honey trap. And when he was fretting over a deal he had the attention span of a gnat. I remember a Belgian Grand Prix at Spa once and sitting around the motorhome until 10 o’clock at night for an interview that had been scheduled for lunchtime. It was almost midnight by the time we had finished. I was facing a two-hour drive to my hotel, my car was parked five miles from the circuit and the shuttles had stopped running hours before.

“Why don’t you come back and stay with me?” he offered. “There are two beds in my hotel room.”

We jumped into a Porsche Carrera Turbo that somebody had lent him for the weekend, screeched from the paddock on to the finishing straight and he gave me a white-knuckle guide to the circuit. Then we got to his hotel and he threw me a spare toothbrush and a pair of slightly worn but recently laundered Hugo Boss boxer shorts.

How great was my love for Jordan? How deep was my obsession for this man? I put them on. I wore those boxers until the crotch was in shreds. Every time we would meet he would ask: “Are you still wearing my knickers?” And I would smile and tell him they were hanging on my trophy wall. And then, late one night at his home in Oxford, after an extremely affable dinner, we got into a long and heated debate about an Irish swimmer called Michelle de Bruin who had won three gold medals at the Atlanta Olympic Games. Jordan was adamant that De Bruin should be feted as a hero; I was adamant that she should be banished as a cheat. Fingers were pointed and voices were raised. Suddenly the spell was broken. He continued to be one of my favourite interviews. I continued to be one of his favourite hacks. But for some strange reason things were never quite the same.

THE CHOPPY waters have calmed as the interview enters its second hour and he is regaling me with fantastically witty (but extremely libellous) tales about his life in F1. Or rather his former life.

Almost two years have passed since he sold his team to Midland, and although he insists he hasn’t missed it — “I haven’t been at a race since” — he does not deny that he found it hard to let go. “It took me 35 years,” he says.

“That’s a major chunk of anybody’s life. The pressure was huge. The pressure was massive. You don’t live a life. I commiserate with any partner of a person who is at the forefront of F1, because it’s non-stop, it’s very hard; and I promise you, you pay the penalty somewhere along the line.

“I came in on a wing and a prayer; whatever I made I put in; whatever staff I had were paid; whatever sponsors we had got bang for their buck. It grew. At this moment only five teams have won multiple grands prix in the past 20 years. Jordan is one of them and I’m proud of that. But I’m not here to talk about that. I thought this interview was about the programme and the kids.”

It is, I tell him, but I’d like to place it in context. Tell me more about the withdrawal symptoms. “Well, I’ve hardly used a business suit,” he says with a laugh.

“I see them all lined up in front of me, Gucci, Gucci, Gucci, Prada, Prada, Prada and 50, no a hundred, fantastic ties and think, ‘What am I going to do with them?’ It’s like someone has died.” This is at home?

“Yeah. And Marie (his wife) says, ‘Get rid of them. When is the last time you wore that tie?’ And she’s right, but, I don’t know, I just like looking at them.”

Marie always said you would be impossible to live with if you retired. “Yeah, she said she’d shoot me, but my days are full,” he insists. “I’m a director of Clareville Capital, a venture capital business, and I’ve got some directorships and investments with a publishing company, a high-technology business and a bet-broking business. I’m committed to CLIC and Amber (a charity for homeless kids who have lost focus in life) and some of the bike rides you can do in Windsor Park are unbelievable.”

They don’t carry the same profile as F1, I say. “No, and I don’t want them to,” he replies. So how did the series come about?

“In Germany the TV station RTL asked me to do a few pieces for them talking about racing and I said, ‘Sorry, I don’t want to be a commentator. I don’t want to give people the impression that I’m still living my life through motor racing. I need to make the cut’.

“But they own Channel Five and we started talking about other things. At first it was a concept of finding the next Michael Schumacher.” The Pop Idol format applied to motor racing?

“In a way,” he concurs, “but it would have taken a lot of time and it would have been very bitchy, and I thought, ‘Jesus, I don’t want to do this’. And then I thought about some of the stuff I’d seen with Amber and I came up with this idea: why not take some kids and give them a project, instead of going racing? Would I be able to change their minds? Could I get them to do something positive in their lives?” And you did?

“You’ll have to watch and see how it unfolds.” I’ve seen the trailer. It looks pretty good. “Yes,” he agrees, “but I think I got much more out of the programme than they did.” You did? “Yeah, it made me see life from a completely different view; to be more tolerant, less arrogant. F1 breeds arrogance. You have to be brutal and horrible, almost nasty. These kids have had a lasting effect on me. I saw how desperately in need of help they are.”

He jumps to his feet and draws an imaginary line down the middle of the table. “You grew up with the same family structure as me,” he says. “Working father, mother bringing up the kids. Solid. Secure. This is the line. Now, I had a passion for cars and I ended up on this (the right) side of the line, but these kids have a passion for cars and they end up on this (the wrong) side.

“Why? Because they don’t have a family structure, it has disintegrated. It’s the classic young-girl-meets-guy-gets-pregnant scenario. He does a runner. She doesn’t want to abort and has the child. A few years down the road, when life has been incredibly hard, she meets another guy, but he doesn’t want her child. The child is sent to a home. He commits his first crime.” He slams the table with his fist.

But what chance has he got?” he explodes. “Tell me what chance he has. And he hasn’t done anything wrong. It is not his fault. We’re just lucky enough that we had a family. This all comes back to the family. Banging up these kids is not a solution. We need to think outside the box!

He slumps back in his chair and you nod in agreement. Old rebel. New cause.

Eddie Jordan’s Bad Boy Racers, Monday, 8pm

Bruce Willis in Mykita

June 15, 2009

Bruce Willis was spotted in Mykita.

Bruce Willis in Mykita

Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955), better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor and film producer. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since. One of his more popular roles was that of John McClane in the Die Hard series which were critical and financial successes. Willis has released several albums and has appeared in several television shows. He has also appeared in over sixty films, including Pulp Fiction, Sin City, 12 Monkeys, Armageddon, and The Sixth Sense.

Motion pictures featuring Willis have grossed US$2.55 to US$3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him the seventh highest-grossing actor in a leading role, and ninth highest including supporting roles.[1][2] Willis was married to actress Demi Moore and they had three daughters before their divorce in 2000 after thirteen years of marriage. He is a two-time Emmy Award-winning, Golden Globe Award-winning, and four-time Saturn Award-nominated actor.

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[edit] Early life

Willis was born in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany, the son of a Kassel-born German Marlene, who worked in a bank, and David Willis, an American soldier.[3][4] Willis was the eldest of four children: he has a sister Florence and a brother David. His brother Robert died of pancreatic cancer in 2001, aged 42.[5] After being discharged from the military in 1957, Willis’ father took his family back to Penns Grove, New Jersey, where he worked as a welder and factory worker.[6] His parents separated in 1972 while Willis was in his teens.[4]Willis attended Penns Grove High School in his hometown, where he encountered issues with a stutter.He used to be hatefully nicknamed Buck-Buck by his schoolmates.[7][6][8] Finding it easy to express himself on stage and losing his stutter in the process, Willis began performing on stage and his high school activities were marked by such things as the drama club and student council president.[6]

After high school, Bruce made friends with the BBZ in 1978 and still is today .Willis took a job as a security guard and he also transported work crews at the DuPont Chambers Works factory in Deepwater, New Jersey.[9] He quit after a colleague was killed on the job, and became a regular at several bars.[6] Willis learned to play the harmonica and joined an R&B band called Loose Goose.[10] After a stint as a private investigator (a role he would play in the television series Moonlighting as well as in the 1991 film, The Last Boy Scout), Willis returned to acting. He enrolled in the drama program at Montclair State University, where he was cast in the class production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Willis left school in his junior year and moved toNew York City.[4]

Willis returned to the bar scene, only this time for a part-time job at the West Bank Cafe in New York City’sManhattan Plaza.[11][9] After multiple auditions, Willis made his theater debut in the off-Broadwayproduction of Heaven and Earth. He gained more experience and exposure in Fool for Love, and in a Levi’scommercial.

[edit] Career

Willis at the 61st Academy Awards in 1989.

Willis left New York City and headed to California to audition for several television shows.[4] He auditioned for the role of David Addison Jr. of the television series Moonlighting (1985–89), while competing against 3,000 other actors for the position.[12] The starring role, opposite Cybill Shepherd, helped to establish him as a comedic actor, with the show lasting five seasons. During the height of the show’s success, beverage maker Seagram hired Willis as the pitchman for their Golden Wine Cooler products.[13] The advertising campaign paid the rising star between $5–7 million over two years. In spite of that, Willis chose not to renew his contract with the company when he decided to stop drinking alcohol in 1988.[14] One of his first major film roles was in the 1987 Blake Edwards film Blind Date alongside Kim Basinger and John Laroquette. Edwards would cast him again to play the real-life cowboy actor Tom Mix in Sunset. However, it was his then-unexpected turn in the film Die Hard that catapulted him to fame. He performed most of his ownstunts in the film,[15] and the film grossed $138,708,852 worldwide.[16] Following his success with Die Hard, he had a supporting role in the drama In Country as Vietnam veteran Emmett Smith and also provided the voice for a talking baby in Look Who’s Talking, as well as its sequel Look Who’s Talking Too.

In the late-1980s, Willis enjoyed moderate success as a recording artist, recording an album of pop-blues entitled The Return of Bruno, which included the hit single “Respect Yourself”,[17] promoted by a Spinal Tap-like rockumentary parody featuring scenes of him performing at famous events including Woodstock. Follow-up recordings were not as successful, though Willis has returned to the recording studio several times. In the early 1990s, Willis’ career suffered a moderate slump starring in flops such as The Bonfire of the Vanities, Striking Distance, and a film he co-wrote entitled Hudson Hawk, among others. He starred in a leading role in the highly sexualized thriller Color of Night (1994), which was very poorly received by critics but has become popular on video. However, in 1994 he had a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed Pulp Fiction, which gave a new boost to his career. In 1996, he was the executive producer of thecartoon Bruno the Kid which featured a CGI representation of himself.[18] He went on to play the lead roles inTwelve Monkeys and The Fifth Element. However, by the end of the 1990s, his career had fallen into another slump with critically panned films like The Jackal, Mercury Rising, and Breakfast of Champions, saved only by the success of the Michael Bay-directed Armageddon which was the highest grossing film of 1998 worldwide.[19] The same year his voice and likeness were featured in the PlayStation video gameApocalypse.[20]

In 1999, Willis then went on to the starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s film, The Sixth Sense. The film was both a commercial and critical success and helped to increase interest in his acting career. He won a 2000Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on Friends (in which he played the father of Ross Geller’s much-younger girlfriend).[21] He was also nominated for a 2001 American Comedy Award (in the Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series category) for his work on Friends. Willis was originally cast as Terry Benedict in Ocean’s Eleven (2001) but dropped out to work on recording an album.[22] InOcean’s Twelve (2004), he makes a cameo appearance as himself. In 2007 he appeared in the Planet Terrorhalf of the double feature Grindhouse as the villain, a mutant soldier. This marks Willis’ second collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez, following Sin City.

Willis at German premiere of Over the Hedge on June 28, 2006.

Willis has appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman several times throughout his career. He filled in for an ill David Letterman on his show February 26, 2003, when he was supposed to be a guest.[23] On many of his appearances on the show, Willis stages elaborate jokes, such as wearing a day-glo orange suit in honor of the Central Park gates, having one side of his face made up with simulated buckshot wounds after the Harry Whittington shooting, or trying to break a record (parody of David Blaine) of staying underwater for only twenty seconds. On April 12, 2007, he appeared again, this time wearing a Sanjaya Malakar wig.[24] His most recent appearance was on June 25, 2007 when he appeared wearing a mini-turbine strapped to his head to accompany a joke about his own fictional documentary entitled An Unappealing Hunch (a wordplay of An Inconvenient Truth).[25] Willis also appeared on Japanese Subaru Legacy television commercials.[26] Tying in with this, Subaru did a limited run of Legacys, badged “Subaru Legacy Touring Bruce”, in honor of Willis.

Willis has appeared in four movies with Samuel L. Jackson (National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Unbreakable) and both actors were slated to work together in Black Water Transit before dropping out. Willis also worked alongside his eldest daughter, Rumer, in the 2005 filmHostage. In 2007, he appeared in the thriller Perfect Stranger, opposite Halle Berry, the crime/drama filmAlpha Dog, opposite Sharon Stone, and marked his return to the role of John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard. His most recent role was in the film What Just Happened.

Willis appeared on the 2008 Blues Traveler album North Hollywood Shootout, giving a spoken wordperformance over an instrumental blues-rock jam on the track “Free Willis (Ruminations from Behind Uncle Bob’s Machine Shop)”. In early 2009, he appeared in an advertising campaign to publicize the insurance company Norwich Union’s change of name to Aviva.[27]

[edit] Upcoming films

Willis’ future projects include several films that will debut between 2009 and 2010. Willis was slated to play U.S. Army general William R. Peers in director Oliver Stone’s Pinkville, a drama about the investigation of the 1968 My Lai Massacre.[28] However, due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, the film was cancelled and Willis took up the film, The Surrogates, which is based on the comic book of the same name.[29]

Willis will star alongside Tracy Morgan in a comedy with a working title of A Couple of Dicks, directed byKevin Smith. The film is about two police detectives investigating the theft of a baseball card.[30] Release is set for January 2010.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Marriages and family

At the premiere for the film Stakeout, Willis met actress Demi Moore, who was dating actor Emilio Estevez at the time. Willis married Moore on November 21, 1987 and had three daughters: Rumer Willis (b. 16 August 1988), Scout LaRue Willis (b. 20 July 1991) and Tallulah Belle Willis (b. 3 February 1994) before the couple divorced on October 18, 2000. The couple gave no public reason for their breakup. Willis stated that his divorce made him feel that “I felt I had failed as a father and a husband by not being able to make it work” and credited actor Will Smith for helping him cope with the situation.[4][13] After their breakup, rumors persisted that the couple planned to re-marry, until Moore married the actor Ashton Kutcher, fifteen years her junior. Willis has maintained a close relationship with both Moore and Kutcher, even attending their wedding. Willis and Moore currently share custody of their daughters.[4]

Since the divorce he has dated models Maria Bravo Rosado and Emily Sandberg; he was engaged to Brooke Burns until they broke up in 2004 after ten months together.[12] He married Emma Heming in Turks and Caicos on March 21, 2009;[31]guests included his three daughters, Moore, and Kutcher. The ceremony was not legally binding, so the couple wed again in a civil ceremony in Beverly Hills six days later.[32] Willis has expressed interest in having more children.[4]

[edit] Religion

Bruce Willis was, at one point, Lutheran (specifically Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod); but no longer practices, after clarifying in a July 1998 interview with George magazine:

Organized religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms”, he says. “They were all very important when we didn’t know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred, or volcanoes happened”, he continues. “Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. Literally! I choose not to believe that’s the way. And that’s what makes America cool, you know?[33]

[edit] Business interests

Willis owns property in Los Angeles, the Trump Tower in New York City,[34] and 220 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place,[35] as well as a home in Malibu, California, a ranch in Montana, a beach home on Parrot Cay inTurks and Caicos, and multiple properties in Sun Valley, Idaho.[4]

Willis owns his own motion picture production company called Cheyenne Enterprises which he started with his business partner Arnold Rifkin in 2000.[36] He also owns several small businesses in Hailey, Idahoincluding The Mint Bar and The Liberty Theater and is a co-founder of Planet Hollywood along with actorsArnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.[37]

[edit] Other interests

Willis, an avid New Jersey Nets fan, made controversial comments on April 29, 2007 during a live broadcast of a Nets home playoff game on TSN by saying a catch phrase from his Die Hard films, “Yipee-ki-aye-ay motherfucker”, at the end of the interview.[38][39] Reacting to the backlash, he later blamed his actions on jet lag, stating: “Sometimes I overestimate my ability to function under duress with less than enough sleep”.[13]

On May 5, 2007, someone using the screen name “Walter_B” started posting detailed responses onto Ain’t it Cool News, where people were discussing the fact that Live Free or Die Hard received a PG-13 rating, instead of an R rating like the earlier three Die Hard films.[40] The responses included detailed information on Live Free or Die Hard, which was yet to be released; the theme of the Die Hard film series, direct criticisms of other film crews and casts, and many film trivia answers. Many people were skeptical that “Walter_B” was indeed Willis, but on May 9, Willis revealed his identity on a video chat session (using iChat).[41][41]

[edit] Political views

In 1988 he and Moore actively campaigned for Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis’s Presidential bid. Four years later he supported President George H.W. Bush for reelection and he was a vocal critic of Bill Clinton. However, in 1996, he declined to endorse Clinton’s Republican opponent Bob Dole, because Dole had criticized Moore for her role in the film Striptease.[42] Willis was an invited speaker at the 2000 Republican National Convention,[43] and actively supported George W. Bush that year. He did not make any contributions or public endorsements in the 2008 Presidential campaign. In several June 2007 interviews, he declared that he still maintains some Republican ideologies but is currently an independent.[4][13]

In 2006, he proposed that the United States should invade Colombia in order to end the drug trafficking.[44]In several interviews Willis has said that he supports large salaries for teachers and police officers, and says that he is disappointed in the United States’ foster care and treatment of Native Americans.[42][45] Willis also stated that he is a big supporter of gun rights:

“Everyone has a right to bear arms. If you take guns away from legal gun owners, then the only people who have guns are the bad guys.” Even a pacifist, he insists, would get violent if someone were trying to kill him. “You would fight for your life.”[46]

Willis has criticized the religious right and its influence on the Republican party. In February 2006, Willis appeared in Manhattan to talk about 16 Blocks with reporters. One reporter attempted to ask Willis about his opinion on current events but was interrupted by Willis in mid-sentence:

I’m sick of answering this fucking question. I’m a Republican only as far as I want a smaller government, I want less government intrusion. I want them to stop shitting on my money and your money and tax dollars that we give 50 percent of… every year. I want them to be fiscally responsible and I want these goddamn lobbyists out ofWashington. Do that and I’ll say I’m a Republican… I hate the government, OK? I’m apolitical. Write that down. I’m not a Republican.[47]

[edit] Military interests

Willis meeting members of the U.S. Navy on July 25, 2002

Throughout his film career, Willis has depicted several military characters in films such as The Siege, Hart’s War, Tears of the Sun, and Grindhouse. Growing up in a military family, Willis has been publicly supportive of the United States armed forces. In 2002, Willis’ youngest daughter, Tallulah, suggested that he purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to troops. Willis purchased 12,000 boxes of cookies, and they were distributed to sailors aboard USS John F. Kennedy and other troops stationed throughout the Middle East at the time.[48] In 2003, Willis visited Iraq as part of the USO tour, singing to the troops with his band, The Accelerators.[49]Willis considered joining the military to help fight the second Iraq war, but was deterred by his age.[50] It was believed he offered US$1 million to any civilian who turns in terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, or Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; in the June 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, however, he clarified that the statement was made hypothetically and not meant to be taken literally. Willis has also criticized the media for its coverage of the war, complaining that the press were more likely to focus on the negative aspects of the war:

I went to Iraq because what I saw when I was over there was soldiers — young kids for the most part — helping people in Iraq; helping getting the power turned back on, helping get hospitals open, helping get the water turned back on and you don’t hear any of that on the news. You hear, ‘X number of people were killed today,’ which I think does a huge disservice. It’s like spitting on these young men and women who are over there fighting to help this country.[51]

Willis stated in 2005 that he wanted to “make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.”[52] The film would follow members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, who spent considerable time in Mosul and were decorated heavily for it. The film is to be based on the writings of blogger Michael Yon, a former United States Army Special Forces Green Beretwho was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their activities. Willis described theplot of the film as “these guys who do what they are asked for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom.”[53] He has not spoken publicly about his plans for this film since 2005.

[edit] Cultural references

In 1996, Roger Director, a writer and producer from Moonlighting wrote a roman à clef on Willis titled A Place to Fall.[54] Cybill Shepherd wrote in her 2000 autobiography, Cybill Disobedience, that Willis was angry at Director, because the character was written as a “neurotic, petulant actor.”

In 1998 Willis participated in Apocalypse, a Sony Playstation game. The game was originally announced to feature Willis as a sidekick, not as the main character. The company reworked the game using Willis’ likeness and voice and changed the game to use him as the main character.[20]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Film

Year Film Role Notes
1980 The First Deadly Sin Man Entering Diner as Delaney Leaves Extra
1982 The Verdict Courtroom Observer Extra
1985 A Guru Comes Unknown role Extra
1987 Blind Date Walter Davis
1988 The Return of Bruno Bruno Radolini
Sunset Tom Mix
Die Hard John McClane
1989 That’s Adequate Himself Cameo
In Country Emmett Smith
Look Who’s Talking Mikey Voice only
1990 Die Hard 2 John McClane
Look Who’s Talking Too Mikey Voice only
The Bonfire of the Vanities Peter Fallow
1991 Mortal Thoughts James Urbanski
Hudson Hawk Eddie ‘Hudson Hawk’ Hawkins Also co-wrote plot and theme music
Billy Bathgate Bo Weinberg
The Last Boy Scout Joseph Cornelius ‘Joe’ Hallenbeck
1992 The Player Himself Cameo
Death Becomes Her Dr. Ernest Menville
1993 National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1 John McClane Uncredited cameo
Striking Distance Tom ‘Tommy’ Hardy
1994 North Narrator
Color of Night Dr. Bill Capa
Pulp Fiction Butch Coolidge
Nobody’s Fool Carl Roebuck
1995 Die Hard with a Vengeance John McClane
Four Rooms Leo Uncredited
Twelve Monkeys James Cole
1996 Last Man Standing John Smith
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America Muddy Grimes Voice only
1997 The Fifth Element Korben Dallas
The Jackal The Jackal
1998 Mercury Rising Art Jeffries
Armageddon Harry S. Stamper
The Siege Major General William Devereaux
1999 Franky Goes to Hollywood Himself Short subject
Breakfast of Champions Dwayne Hoover
The Sixth Sense Dr. Malcolm Crowe
The Story of Us Ben Jordan
2000 The Whole Nine Yards James Stefan ‘Jimmy’ Tudeski
The Kid Russell ‘Russ’ Duritz
Unbreakable David Dunn
2001 Bandits Joe Blake
2002 Hart’s War Col. William A. McNamara
Grand Champion CEO Cameo
2003 Tears of the Sun Lieutenant A.K. Waters
Rugrats Go Wild! Spike Voice only
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle William Rose Bailey Cameo
2004 The Whole Ten Yards Jimmy ‘The Tulip’ Tudeski
Ocean’s Twelve Himself Cameo
2005 Hostage Jeff Talley Also co-producer
Sin City John Hartigan
2006 Alpha Dog Sonny Truelove
16 Blocks Jack Mosley Also producer
Fast Food Nation Harry Rydell
Lucky Number Slevin Mr. Goodkat
Over The Hedge RJ Voice only
2007 The Astronaut Farmer The Colonel Uncredited
Perfect Stranger Harrison Hill
Grindhouse Lt. Muldoon
Nancy Drew Himself Cameo
Live Free or Die Hard John McClane Also producer
2008 What Just Happened Himself
2009 Assassination of a High School President Principal Kirkpatrick
Surrogates Agent Greer Post-production
2010 A Couple of Dicks Unknown Pre-production[30]
2010 The Expendables Unknown Cameo Pre-production

[edit] Television

Year Title Role Notes
1984 Miami Vice Tony Amato Episode “No Exit
1985 The Twilight Zone Peter Jay Novins Episode “Shatterday
1985-1989 Moonlighting David Addison Jr. 67 episodes
1996-1997 Bruno the Kid Bruno the Kid Voice only
1997 Mad About You Amnesia patient Episode “The Birth Part 2″
1999 Ally McBeal Dr. Nickle Episode “Love Unlimited”
2000 Friends Paul Stevens Three episodes
2002 True West Lee Television movie
2005 That ’70s Show Vic Episode “Misfire”

[edit] Producer

Year Title Notes
1988 Sunset Co-executive producer
2002 The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course Producer
2007 The Hip Hop Project Executive producer

[edit] Discography

[edit] Awards and honors

Hollywood Walk of Fame star

Willis has won a variety of awards and has received various honors throughout his career in television and film.

  • For his work on the television show Moonlighting he won an Emmy (”Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series”) and a Golden Globe (”Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series – Comedy/Musical”) plus received additional nominations for the show.[55]
  • He was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Supporting Actor” for his role in the film In Country
  • Maxim magazine had named his sex scenes in Color of Night (1994) as the best sex scenes ever in film history.[1]
  • In the 1999 drama/thriller film, The Sixth Sense, Willis won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award(”Favorite Actor – Suspense”) and the People’s Choice Award (”Favorite Motion Picture Star in a Drama”). He was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Actor and received two nominations for the MTV Movie Awards for “Best Male Performance” and “Best On-Screen Duo”.[55]
  • In February 2002, Willis was awarded the Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award from Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals. According to the organization, the award is given to performers who give a lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment.[56]
  • Also in 2002, Willis was appointed as national spokesman for Children in Foster Care by PresidentGeorge W. Bush.[57] Willis wrote online: “I saw Foster Care as a way for me to serve my country in a system by which shining a little bit of light could benefit a great deal by helping kids who were literally wards of the government.”
  • In April 2006, he was honored by French government for his contributions to the film industry. Willis was named “Officier Dans L’ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres” (Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters) in a ceremony in Paris. The French Prime Minister stated “This is France’s way of paying tribute to an actor who epitomizes the strength of American cinema, the power of the emotions that he invites us to share on the world’s screens and the sturdy personalities of his legendary characters.”[58]
  • On October 16, 2006, Willis was honored with a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star is located at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard and it was the 2,321st star awarded in its history. Willis, reacting to his reception of the star, stated “I used to come down here and look at these stars and I could never quite figure out what you were supposed to do to get one…time has passed and now here I am doing this, and I’m still excited. I’m still excited to be an actor.”[59]

[edit] References

  1. ^ “People Index”. Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/?view=Actor&sort=sumgross&p=.htm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  2. ^ “All Time Top 100 Stars at the Box Office”. The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  3. ^ “Surprise German visit from Willis”. BBC News. August 8, 2005.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4132632.stm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lipworth, Elaine (June 16, 2007). “Die Another Day: Bruce Willis”. Daily Mail.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/live/live.html?in_article_id=462215&in_page_id=1889. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  5. ^ Top 10 actors: Bruce Willis #7 on total box office revenue list
  6. ^ a b c d Barnard, Sarah. “Bruce Willis”. The Biography Channel.http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biography_story/294:118/1/Bruce_Willis.htm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  7. ^ Petersen, Melody (May 9, 1997). “Bruce Willis Drops Project, Leaving Town More Troubled”. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A02E6DF1439F93AA35756C0A961958260. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  8. ^ “Bruce Willis: The Uncut Interview” (PDF). Reader’s Digest. 2002.http://www.rd.com/images/content/021102/bruce_willis_interview.pdf. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  9. ^ a b Segal, David (March 10, 2005). “Bruce Willis’s Tragic Mask”. The Washington Post.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22175-2005Mar9.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  10. ^ Smiley, Tavis (July 9, 2004). “Bruce Willis”. The Tavis Smiley Show.http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200407/20040709_willis.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  11. ^ DeLucia, Matt (July 2007). “The West Bank Café”. Restaurant Insider.http://www.newyorkrestaurantinsider.com/july2007-west-bank.asp. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  12. ^ a b “Yahoo! Movies”. Bruce Willis Biography.http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018749/bio. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  13. ^ a b c d “How Bruce Willis Keeps His Cool”. Time. June 21, 2007.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1635812,00.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  14. ^ Grobel, Lawrence (November 1988). “Playboy Interview: Bruce Willis”. Playboy. pp. 59–79.
  15. ^ “Bruce Willis: Biography”. People. http://www.people.com/people/bruce_willis/biography. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  16. ^ “Die Hard”. Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=diehard.htm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  17. ^ “Top 100 Songs of 1987″. The Eighties Club. http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id224.htm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  18. ^ “Bruce Willis Biography (1955-)”. Film Reference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/99/Bruce-Willis.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  19. ^ “1998 Worldwide Grosses”. Box Office Mojo. http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1998&p=.htm. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  20. ^ a b Walk, Gary Eng (December 4, 1998). “”Apocalypse” Now”. Entertainment Weekly.http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,286028,00.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  21. ^ “The 52nd Annual Emmy Awards”. The Los Angeles Times. September 11, 2000.http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/59857880.xml?dids=59857880:59857880&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+11%2C+2000&author=BRIAN+LOWRY&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=THE+52ND+ANNUAL+EMMY+AWARDS%3B+Veterans+Top+List+of+Creative+Arts+Winners%3B+Veterans+Lead+in+Creative+Fields&pqatl=google. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  22. ^ Rohan, Virginia (June 28, 2004). “Let’s Make a Deal” (Registration required). The Record.http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-95921703.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  23. ^ Susman, Gary (February 28, 2003). “The Eyes Have It”. Entertainment Weekly.http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,427601,00.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  24. ^ “The Week’s Best Celeb Quotes”. People. August 17, 2007.http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20035205,00.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  25. ^ “Bruce Willis Wears Mini-Wind Turbine On His Head”. Star Pulse.http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/06/26/bruce_willis_wears_mini_wind_turbine_on_. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  26. ^ “1991 Subaru Legacy Ad”. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKopOLKEWfE. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  27. ^ Dunkley, Jamie (April 29, 2009). “Aviva lambasted for rebranding costs”. Telegraph.co.uk.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/insurance/5246121/Aviva-lambasted-for-rebranding-costs.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  28. ^ Mayberry, Carly. “The Vine: Pitt targeted for ‘Pinkville’” (Registration required). The Hollywood Reporter.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i26138003c343f1a17dd721b6e61885d2. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  29. ^ Fleming, Michael; Tatiana Siegel (November 18, 2007). “Films halted due to strike”. Variety.http://www.variety.com/VR1117976244.html. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  30. ^ a b “Bruce Willis Circling Several New Movies”. Empire.http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=24691. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  31. ^ “Bruce Willis Married to Super Model Emma heming”. http://www.celebrityness.com/2009/05/bruce-willis-married-22-years-younger.html. Retrieved on April11, 2009.
  32. ^ “Bruce and Emma make marriage legal”. MSNBC. March 27, 2009.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29923036/. Retrieved on May 9, 2009.
  33. ^ “Celeb Atheist”. Bruce Willis. http://www.celebatheists.com/?title=Bruce_Willis. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  34. ^ “Bruce Willis Moves Into Trump Towers”. SoFeminine.ca.http://www.sofeminine.co.uk/w/star/n117308/news/Bruce-Willis-Moves-Into-Trump-Towers.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  35. ^ Abelson, Max (November 5, 2007). “Bruce Willis Pays $4.26 M. for Trump Enemy’s Condo”. The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2007/bruce-willis-pays-4-26-m-trump-enemys-condo. Retrieved on May 910, 2009.
  36. ^ Fleming, Michael (November 12, 2002). “Willis held ‘Hostage’” (Registration required). Variety.http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-26789071_ITM. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  37. ^ Martinson, Jane; Vikram Dodd (August 18, 1999). “Planet Hollywood crashes to earth”.Guardian.co.uk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/aug/18/janemartinson.vikramdodd. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  38. ^ Feschuk, Dave (April 30, 2007). “Learning the hard way”. TheStar.com.http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/208749. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  39. ^ “Willis Gets Naughty with Expletive at Basketball Game”. Internet Movie Database. May 2, 2007.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/news?year=2007. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  40. ^ “Bruce Willis”. Ain’t it Cool News.http://www.aintitcool.com/talkback_display/32511#comment_1493497. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  41. ^ a b “Is Bruce Willis a Talkbacker?”. Freeze Dried Movies.http://web.archive.org/web/20071103000430/http://www.freezedriedmovies.com/blog/index.php?/archives/81-Is-Bruce-Willis-a-talkbacker.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  42. ^ a b Vincent, Mal (March 3, 2006). “Playing the bad boy is a natural for Bruce Willis”. HamptonRoads.com. http://hamptonroads.com/2006/03/playing-bad-boy-natural-bruce-willis. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  43. ^ “Bush and Cheney head toward Philadelphia as party vanguard makes preparations”. CNN. July 28, 2000. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/07/28/convention.wrap/index.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  44. ^ Walls, Jeannette (March 14, 2006). “Bruce Willis blasts Colombian drug trade”. MSNBC.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11701188. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  45. ^ West, Kevin (June 24, 2007). “A Big Ride of a Life”. USA Weekend.http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070624/070624bruce_willis.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  46. ^ Roach, Mary (February 13, 2000). “Being Bruce Willis”. USA Weekend.http://www.usaweekend.com/00_issues/000213/000213willis.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  47. ^ “Willis Is Mad As Hell…”. MSN Movies. February 24, 2006. http://movies.msn.com/movies/hitlist/2-24-06?GT1=100. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  48. ^ Smith, Leah N.. “Bruce Willis Moonlights as Off-Screen Hero with Cookie Donation”. USS John F. Kennedy Public Affairs. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pnav/is_200205/ai_2244019612. Retrieved on 2007-06-24.
  49. ^ Neal, Rome (September 26, 2003). “Bruce Willis Sings For The Troops”. CBS News.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/entertainment/main575209.shtml. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  50. ^ “Hollywood’s right reluctant to join Iraq debate”. CNN. March 7, 2003.http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/07/iraq.celebs.reut/. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  51. ^ “Willis Fights for Iraqi Troops”. Hollywood.com. March 9, 2005.http://www.hollywood.com/news/Bruce_Willis_Fights_for_Iraqi_Troops_/2436202. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  52. ^ Baxter, Sarah (November 27, 2005). “Bruce Willis comes out fighting for Iraq’s forgotten GI heroes”.The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article597133.ece. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  53. ^ “Willis to Make Movie Honoring U.S. Troops in Iraq”. Hollywood.com. November 28, 2005.http://www.hollywood.com/news/Willis_to_Make_Movie_Honoring_US_Troops_in_Iraq/3469589. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  54. ^ Gates, Anita (March 24, 1996). “Moonlighting”. The New York Times.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E5DC1439F937A15750C0A960958260. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  55. ^ a b “Awards for Bruce Willis”. Internet Movie Database.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/awards. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  56. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (February 12, 2002). “For Bruce Willis, Award Is a Drag”. People.http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,623503,00.html. Retrieved on June 20 2007.
  57. ^ “President, Mrs. Bush & Bruce Willis Announce Adoption Initiative”. whitehouse.gov. July 23, 2002.http://web.archive.org/web/20020725130329/http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/07/20020723-7.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  58. ^ “Internet Movie Database”. Willis Receives French Honor. January 12, 2006.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000246/news?year=2006. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.
  59. ^ Associated Press (October 17, 2006). “Willis Gets Hollywood Walk of Fame Star”. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101601073.html. Retrieved on May 10, 2009.

[edit] External links

This is Mykita

June 9, 2009

MYKITA

MYKITA was founded in 2003 by Harald Gottschling, Daniel Haffmans, Philipp Haffmans and Moritz Krueger. What to some may sound like an Asian-style name was in fact inspired by the firm’s first premises – a former day-care centre for children (in East Germany abbreviated to “Kita”). The four were at the creative and managerial core of the successful ic! berlin eyewear brand, which they left in September 2003 in order to embark on their own creative venture: MYKITA.
Just a year later, the world was introduced to MYKITA *Collection No.1* – an evolutionary step up in terms of both design and exclusivity. The all-new range of metal frames was unveiled at the Silmo international eyewear fair in the fall of 2004.
Exactly two years later, a new collection was unveiled at the 2006 Silmo. In a marked departure from previous frames, MYKITA *Collection No.2* were made from full-bodied acetate. In April 2007 MYKITA’s first dedicated shop opened in Berlin. The entire concept behind the store was designed by the four founders of MYKITA to reflect the look and philosophy of the MYKITA world.

All frames are hand-assembled at MYKITA’s own production site in Berlin and are available at over 1,400 high-end opticians and selected department stores across the globe. MYKITA frameshave won the red dot and the IF product design award in 2007.

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
The unique form vocabulary of Philipp Haffmans and Harald Gottschling has made the designer duo a hot name in the luxury eyewear sector. Haffmans’ trademark style draws heavily on natural sources of inspiration, while Gottschling takes his contouring cues from the latest developments in industrial design, in particular from aerodynamic and automotive styling.
What distinguishes this pioneering team’s approach to design is their belief in the compatibility of technical innovation and classic elegance.

Both designers boast exceptional technical expertise fuelled by a visionary approach. Their vast experience in the world of design enables them to create the kinds of new concepts and designs that have made MYKITA a worldwide success on the luxury eyewear market.

 
THE PRODUCT
*Collection No.1*
These glasses are made with top-quality stainless steel, just 0.5 mm thick, ensuring an ultra-light feel. The actual production of MYKITA eyewear sees every part of the frame cut out of sheet metal and folded into a lightweight but full-bodied format. Linking these is a remarkably elegant and intelligent screw-less hinge design that ensures total flexibility and allows complete, custom-fit adaptability of inclination and frame according to the wearers’ facial proportions. The technical wizardry is coupled with aesthetic clarity and optimum vision to provide a recognisable trademark for MYKITA.
To apply most of the colours featured in the collection, MYKITA chose a PVD finish – a state-of-the-art vacuum-heat coating technique that guarantees a non-oxidizing and highly wear-resistant surface. The prescription frames in *Collection No.1* are available in a choice of ten colours, the sunglasses in eight colours. Each frame is handmade at the MYKITA workshop in Berlin. 

*Collection No.2*
The MYKITA design team had for some time been planning to make a collection incorporating a fuller-bodied material, and eventually decided on cellulose acetate. Basically composed of cotton, wood pulp, acetate and pigments, it is a natural material that has a long tradition in the eyewear industry. After 10 years of experience with sheet-metal concepts that ultimately have limitations when it comes to working with fuller-bodied forms, the designers developed an acetate-based concept that opens up a new horizon: working in three dimensions, like a sculptor.
Philipp Haffmans and Harald Gottschling would again follow their own revolutionary design philosophy, and *Collection No.2* indeed shares a variety of features with the original concept. It features a “snap-hinge” made of 0.8 mm flat sheet metal familiar from the construction principals applied in the first collection. A major new innovation was the use of photomechanical etching technology. The connection point between the hinge and the acetate frame likewise represented a unique challenge for the designers. Looking at classic hinge solutions on acetate frames, they never liked the fact that a large gap was left between the temples and frame when the former are folded in. *Collection No.2* offers an answer to this aesthetic problem.
The six prescription styles and six sunglasses are available in a range of opaque colours, with no lamination. The colours are: black, brown, warm grey, cool grey, dark blue, olive, bordeaux, red and white.

Both collections boast sophisticated design, an impeccable standard of workmanship and a cutting-edge technical concept.

www.mykita.com

www.theagenc.co.uk

Mykita Eyewear

Andy Wolf
Mykita is hand made in Germany out of stainless steel and has won the IF Design Award, The Red Dot Design Award and The German Federal Republic Design Award, all in 2008.

Andy Wolf is our friend

Andy Wolf
Andy Wolf is vintage inspired eyewear that is handmade in Hartberg, Austria and we carry it exclusively in Surrey.