The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards saw a number of firsts: A first-time host, a first-time Emmy winner and the first to win two lead acting Emmys in a night. These notable achievements were coupled with moments of remembrance for legendary actors and creators, like Dolly Parton, Rob Reiner and Catherine O’Hara, among many others.
With Mariska Hargitay at the helm, the show ran at a quick pace without feeling rushed, giving room to winners to say their thanks in acceptance speeches while still having moments of fun in between. Here, our writers discuss some of the best moments of the ceremony. — Maira Garcia
Rhea Seehorn finally won an acting Emmy, an accolade that was long overdue.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
If you appreciate Rhea Seehorn’s complex, subtle acting, her dynamic range and her deadpan humor, then you’ve probably found the Emmys to be maddening over the years. She famously wasn’t nominated for playing poker-faced attorney Kim Wexler on “Better Call Saul” until the show’s two-part final season. And she never won, not even for the raw, heartbreaking work she did in those last episodes. So seeing her win, finally, for her lead turn on “Pluribus” was thrilling, long overdue recognition that, given her history, made you wonder if it would ever come. Awards voters typically don’t appreciate nuanced acting, too often equating “best” with “most.” But Seehorn’s work on “Pluribus” was undeniable. Playing Carol Sturka, a sad woman forced to save the world from happiness and hive mind, Seehorn had the role of a lifetime and ran with it. This Emmy was a long time coming, and you could feel that when she choked up on stage accepting it. Her palpable joy thanking “Pluribus” creator Vince Gilligan, wiping away tears, is one reason why we keep watching the ceremony. — Glenn Whipp
Matthew Rhys with his double Emmy haul for “The Beast in Me” and “Widow’s Bay.”
(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)
It was the sort of epic night that might make life vest-wearing mayor Tom Loftis jolt from his boat seat in shock or compel the villainous real estate heir Nile Jarvis to scarf down a whole rotisserie chicken with a glint in his eye — Matthew Rhys, the actor who brought both characters to life on screen, won two Emmys during Monday’s ceremony.
In doing so, he achieved a feat no actor has accomplished in 78 editions of the Emmy Awards: he won two lead acting Emmys in the same night. He was recognized for lead actor in a limited series for his turn in Netflix’s psychological thriller “The Beast in Me,” where he played Nile equal parts charming and terrifying. Later, he took the stage to accept the lead comedy actor prize for his optimistic but skeptical take on a mayor of a small, haunted island town in Apple TV’s horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”
Rhys didn’t react like his characters might have — instead, he thanked his homeland: “To the great and good people of Wales… we are a small but mighty nation!”) And he took in the moment being feted by his partner, Keri Russell, who hung on him with pride as he made his way back to the main seating area after his first win.
The double wins add to Rhys’s collection of gold across the acting categories. In 2018, he took home the prize for lead drama actor for “The Americans.” — Yvonne Villarreal
Martin Short, left, with his “Only Murders in the Building” co-star Steve Martin on the red carpet at the Emmys.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Rhys may have taken home lead actor Emmys for limited series and comedy series, but the award for best reaction belongs to Martin Short.
During Rhys’ acceptance speech for lead actor in a comedy, the camera briefly panned to Short, who was nominated for “Only Murders in the Building,” just in time to catch him ripping paper into pieces — presumably his speech — and throwing it on the floor in anger and disbelief.
It lasted only a few seconds, but Short took advantage of the moment.
The timing. The commitment. The expressive performance. Short’s full comedic arsenal was on display before the camera moved on. It was the kind of quick visual gag that was easy to miss, and plenty of people probably did. But for those who caught it, I hope it was worth the spit-take. I am certainly glad I had a napkin at hand.
Short may have lost the Emmy, but his comedic timing remains undefeated. Stay funny, Short. — Anthony Solorzano
Michael J. Fox received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for his work and advocacy on Parkinson’s disease.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
In an Emmys telecast full of genuine emotion — Reba McEntire’s musical celebration of Dolly Parton, a heartbreaking In Memoriam segment that ended with Jamie Lee Curtis’ personal tribute to Rob Reiner — the most moving moments were claimed by Michael J. Fox, receiving the Bob Hope Humanitarian award.
Fox’s decades-long battle with Parkinson‘s disease, and for those who suffer from it, is well known, as is his refusal to let it define him or his career — he received his 19th Emmy nomination this year, for guest actor in “Shrinking.” But when he first came out on stage, in a wheelchair and classic black, he spoke first about his admiration for Bob Hope, a man whose tireless support of soldiers “and military families like mine” illuminated, for Fox, the necessity of showing up for others. “When it starts to get tough, you show up, you help, and if you add a little joy while you’re doing it, that’s so you know it’s even better.”
The utter silence of that room as he spoke, the admiration on all those famous faces said it all. Fox remains as he has long been — funny, sincere, wildly talented and one of the most courageous people many of us will ever know. — Mary McNamara
Mariska Hargitay didn’t take herself too seriously as host, cracking a number of silly jokes throughout the night.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Host Mariska Hargitay was refreshingly lewd and charmingly self-deprecating as the first female host of the Emmys in 15 years.
By not taking herself too seriously, she set a laid-back tone for a high pressure show that for many nominees feels like a life or death moment.
Winning is not everything, Hargitay regularly reminded the crowd, with bits that grounded actors’ experience, like a clip from a 1984 B-horror film she starred in called, “Ghoulies,” which, as she explained to everyone, is a film, “where a monster pops out of a toilet.”
“Jamie Lee Curtis isn’t the only scream queen around here,” Hargitay quipped.
That joke came after an ongoing series of goofy, blue wisecracks, including one about “Law & Order” producer Dick Wolf, saying his real name was “Richard Penis;” that her “SVU” character, Olivia Benson, was “America’s sweetheart sex cop;” that aging fans who once loved and watched “Hannah Montana” would soon need “Hannah Mammogramas;” and an aside about her packed work schedule, noting that “Margo may have money troubles, but Mariska’s doing just fine.”
She ended the night with a mic drop by introducing Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey as “my two favorite flavors of vape.” — Jessica Gelt
A sampling of Mariska Hargitay’s hairstyles at the Emmy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Beach waves, bombshell, Targaryen-inspired twists, luscious locks and a tousled bob. Mariska Hargitay changed her hairstyle so many times throughout the Emmy Awards it was hard to keep track. One can only imagine the quick work happening backstage to get her hair coiffed amid costume changes. And one can only hope there was a wig wall somewhere inspired by Catherine O’Hara’s Moira Rose. The bombshell blowout was reportedly a tribute to her late mother, ‘50s starlet Jayne Mansfield — Hargitay took home two Emmys earlier this month for a documentary she directed about her. Her quick-turn tresses were yet another example of the first-time host’s infectious enthusiasm. — Brittany Levine Beckman
John Mulaney introduced the award for lead actor in a drama series, but not before sending up men.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
I’ll say it: I’m not sure how I feel about John Mulaney. I’ve waffled over the years. I used to love his work, then I found it tired, then I fell off the bandwagon altogether. So believe me when I tell you: I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about him presenting lead actor in a drama series. I wasn’t primed to like his speech. And yet.
He won me — I’m not necessarily a certified Mulaney hater, but certainly not a full-blooded Mulaney lover — over with a truly funny arpeggio of riffs about the mediocrity we accept from men and male actors. I was trepidatious, as was the live audience. (“This award is for the guys. Just men being men,” is a scary start.)
But then Mulaney rounded the curve with a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “Bluey” dad controversy and I sat up straighter. If the line, “some of the men in this category do method acting, and some do regular, less annoying acting” didn’t get me, then “they can play anything, these nominees, not just doctors — they can play a cop or an FBI agent or a secret agent, and then that’s it, no other examples,” certainly did. Don’t get me started on the DJ Khaled quote (I loved it).
Let this man host an awards show, as he is clearly trying to do. I recognize the game, and I respect it.
Also: a very honorable mention to Meg Stalter dressed as a literal Emmy statue. Meg, you are the only method actor I respect. — Laura Zornosa
Emma D’Arcy and Emilia Clarke nodded to “Game of Thrones” before presenting the award for lead actress in a limited series or television movie .
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
One of the last things I ever expected to see on an awards show in 2026 is the Mother of Dragons speaking in High Valyrian on stage. So “Game of Thrones” star Emilia Clarke hitting the stage with “House of the Dragon’s” Emma D’Arcy to present the award for lead actress in a limited series or television movie was a pleasant surprise.
“In the ‘Game of Thrones’ universe, Emilia is my great-great-great-great-really-great granddaughter,” D’Arcy said. “And in honor of our shared Targaryen lineage, Emilia is going to address you in High Valyrian — our mother tongue — and I will translate.”
Clarke earned four Emmy nominations during “Game of Thrones’” run for portraying Daenerys Targaryen, one of the last surviving members of the family that long reigned over Westeros. D’Arcy, meanwhile, plays Rhaenyra Targaryen in “House of the Dragons,” which is set at a time when there are so many Targaryens that a war of succession became inevitable.
The Targaryen team-up was my favorite but it wasn’t the only name-based collaboration of the night. An earlier segment saw Olivia Benson, the fan-favorite “Law & Order: SVU” character played by Hargitay, share the screen with another Olivia Benson — Taylor Swift’s cat that is named after her. The cat made a surprise cameo along with the mega pop star in a pre-recorded segment about the likelihood of Swift appearing at the Emmys. — Tracy Brown
Marcello Hernández presented an award, but not before presenting some dinner invitations to a few people in the crowd.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
When I saw “SNL’s” Marcello Hernández would be presenting at the Emmys, I knew it would be a special moment, and he didn’t let me down. The actor, who presented the award for directing for a comedy series, promptly made himself at home, shouting out, “Donde ‘tan los Latinos?” He then took the opportunity to say hello to a few fellow actors in the room.
“Very quickly, I would like to say hello to Harrison Ford,” he said, looking at the actor sitting in the audience, who gave an exasperated look and waved. “You are a legend and a real inspiration to me and I would like to invite you to have dinner at my house.”
The room erupted in laughter, but he wasn’t finished. He then extended an invitation to Zendaya and her partner, Tom Holland: “I want to say hi to Zendaya, you’re a beast and you’re amazing. And I saw you and I wanted to play it cool, and I decided I can’t do that. So I would like to invite you and Spider-Man to have dinner at my house.”
Then he proceeded to invite Oscar Isaac, the Guatemalan actor who utilizes his given name professionally, suggesting they might be related. “You are so good in ‘Beef’ and you are also Hernández, like I am. So we could be cousins, you never know. And I will see you at Christmas, I will cook you whatever you want.”
Lastly, he said a hello to Matthew McConaughey, and quoted his Cuban tía, who told him if he works very hard, he can hang out with “Matthew McCon-i-purse.” It was a light-hearted speech that spoke to anyone who suddenly finds themselves in a room wondering how they got there. — M.G.
AN emotional Celine Dion has been hailed a ‘true fighter’ as she sobbed through her return to stage after her battle with stiff-person syndrome.
The singer, 58, who was diagnosed with the rare autoimmune neurological disorder in 2022, is performing at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, tonight.
According to Patient Info, SPS “is a very rare, long-term condition that causes painful muscle spasms and debilitating muscle stiffness”.
When she revealed her diagnosis, Celine cancelled all of her tour dates for 2023 and 2024, but in March this year it was reported that she was going to return to stage for her first tour in six years.
Talking to her fans at the venue, which has a capacity of 40,000, Celine said: “I had promised myself not to cry.
“I don’t keep my promises. But I’m so happy to see you all.
Stiff person syndrome or SPS is a condition caused by persistent spasms.
This usually involves multiple muscles, primarily the lower limbs, experts at University College London say.
Most people who develop the illness will receive a diagnosis from the ages of 40-60-years-old.
It’s a neurological disease with features of autoimmune conditions.
The first signs would be intermittent spasms which then become continuous.
Other symptoms include:
Minor sensory stimuli (being more sensitive to noise, light and touch)
Severe spasms
Impaired breathing (in advanced cases).
The experts said that spasms don’t usually occur during your sleep.
How is it treated?
In most cases people with SPS respond to high doses of diazepam, which is often used as anti anxiety medication.
Pain relievers will also improve the symptoms but these will not cure the disorder.
Many people with SPS will experience falls because they lack defensive reflexes, experts at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke added.
“I missed you. I’m going to sing like you without crying.”
Many rushed to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their love and support towards the star.
One said: “You really did it Celine Dion! Thank you for coming back, you did better than ever legend.”
“What a come back! Celine Dion in Paris – powerful, emotional and simply unforgettable. A true legend,” another wrote.
A third added: “The best to ever do it has returned! Great to see Celine back after so many health challenges and she still sounds amazing.”
A fourth chimed in: “I admire her strength, her courage and her incredible talent.”
A fifth said: “So happy for Celine Dion. All she wanted is go back on stage. She did it. What a fighter!”
Celine will be performing another 25 shows at the arena.
Her last date this year is October 17, and then she will return next year in May for her remaining gigs.
It comes after she made her made her first public performance after revealing she is living with SPS when she closed the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
Some of Celine’s songs include My Heart Will Go On, The Power of Love and All By Myself.
Matthew Brennan emerged victorious in the 16th stage of the Vuelta a Espana to claim his fourth stage win of this year’s race.
The British Visma Lease-a-bike rider sprinted to victory ahead of Bryan Coquard and Vito Braet in Palos de la Frontera.
Brennan, 21, held up four fingers to celebrate each of his four stage wins in his first Grand Tour.
“It’s unbelievable, four victories here and the plan was for one,” Brennan said after the 181km stage.
Stage 16 was expected to be another chance for the sprinters.
A five-man breakaway got up the road early on, but with 100km remaining the peloton started to reel them in. The break was caught with around 23km remaining, setting up the bunch sprint finale.
Spanish rider Enric Mas of Team Movistar maintained his 2min 6sec general classification lead on Felix Gall, with Primoz Roglic a further four seconds behind.
The next stage takes place on Wednesday, consisting of 185km from Dos Hermanas to Seville, offering another sprint finale.
Belgium’s Wout van Aert surged clear of Valentin Paret-Peintre in a sprint to the line to win stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana.
The duo were part of a huge breakaway that at one point contained 43 riders on the 192.8km route from Almunecar to Loja.
However, they escaped with 3.7km remaining to contest the finish unchallenged, where Van Aert’s greater power told.
Britain’s Matthew Brennan, who has already won three stages, crossed in third behind his Visma-Lease a Bike team-mate and Paret-Peintre.
Overall race leader Enric Mas arrived three minutes later along with all the other main general classification favourites to retain an advantage of one minute and 45 seconds over Primoz Roglic.
“I had it a little bit in my mind [to attack when I did],” Van Aert said. “I saw the profile and I knew there was this last kicker coming into the village.
“This distance [from the finish], a lot of the time, is when people start to think about the sprint.
“If you’re able to open up a gap, then they [the remaining riders in the breakaway] don’t want to close it for each other anymore. It was close enough to the finish to be worth it.”
The peloton faces a difficult day in the mountains on Saturday as the race travels 154.5km from Jaen to La Pandera.
Meanwhile, Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij won a chaotic sprint finish on stage three of the Tour of Britain.
Kooij pipped Tim Merlier at the end of the 181.1km stage that started in Hull and concluded in Beverley, to claim his eighth stage victory at the race, leaving him just two wins short of the record held by Mark Cavendish, who has 10 on his palmares.
Britain’s Lewis Askey finished with the same time in 17th place and hold on to his place at the top of the GC with Belgian Tim Wellens 12 seconds back in second.
NEW YORK — Richard Nixon, who strode the world stage for decades and was the only American President to resign his office to avoid impeachment, died Friday night, four days after suffering a stroke. He was 81 years old.
A spokesman said Nixon, the nation’s 37th President, was pronounced dead at 9:08 p.m. at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, where he had been taken by ambulance from his home in Park Ridge, N.J. His daughters, Julie Nixon Eisenhower and Patricia Nixon Cox, were at his bedside. His wife, Pat, died last June of lung cancer.
President Clinton said the Nixon family “know that the best wishes of all Americans are with them during their moment of sorrow.” He praised Nixon as “a statesman who sought to build a lasting structure of peace.”
“He gave of himself with devotion,” Clinton said. “His country owes him a debt.”
Clinton said he would attend the funeral at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif. The library said the funeral will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m., followed by a private burial at the library near the grave of Pat Nixon.
At Nixon’s request, there will be no ceremonies in Washington, D.C., where former presidents often lie in state at the Capitol.
The former President had made out a living will stating he did not want heroic measures in the face of devastating illness. Respecting his wishes, his breathing was not assisted in his final days by a respirator. He had been in a coma since Tuesday night.
Even in the decade before his death, the former President demonstrated the uncommon resiliency that characterized his long and turbulent public life.
Many never forgave him for the activities that forced him from office as an unindicted co-conspirator of the Watergate scandal. Yet after a decade of shadowy, self-imposed exile, he had reclaimed a place on the national stage as a wise man of foreign policy. Through his writings, his visits to Moscow and Asia and his private conversations with world leaders, he had succeeded in raising himself from the political depths to the pantheon of elder statesmen.
Of all the men who have occupied the White House before and since, Nixon’s place in history is perhaps the most ambiguous and stirs the most divergent of sentiments. For nearly half a century, in office and out, he commanded the nation’s fascinated attention, inspiring both unshakable admiration and relentless loathing.
“I have never seen one individual as targeted in terms of hatred as Richard Nixon. There is no question that Nixon brought out this passion,” said Herbert S. Parmet, a history professor at City University of New York and author of “Richard Nixon and His America.”
His name will forever be linked to what his White House dismissed as the third-rate burglary at Democratic Party headquarters in Washington’s Watergate office complex–a brief episode on the night of June 17, 1972, that ultimately led to his downfall.
But even with that ghost, he remained a figure to be reckoned with: His pronouncements on issues of war and peace carried complex echoes of a political career born in a successful campaign for Congress in 1946, when the nation was in the throes of anti-communist fervor. He was still heeded nearly 50 years later, long after his political clout had vanished.
Lasting Achievement
Before scandal ended his presidency on Aug. 9, 1974, in the midst of his second term, Nixon claimed a lasting achievement in the historic opening to China: His decision to end the Cold War isolation of the Asian giant won him acclaim even from liberal critics, who acknowledged that only a leader with ironclad anti-communist credentials could have accomplished the task.
Although he shared responsibility for escalation of the Vietnam War, and his Administration was the target of the most bitter and vehement anti-war protests, he also began the drawdown that led to the ultimate departure of U.S. troops from the Southeast Asian nation.
On domestic policy, he took unique positions for a Republican leader of his era, presenting the first proposal for a negative income tax, which would have distributed federal funds to the poorest citizens; imposing controls on wages and prices to stabilize the economy, and proposing overhauls of welfare and health care–measures that have only now returned to the top of the agenda, in the White House of a Democratic President.
“He was less of a partisan Republican than many believe, too independent for many, a man who used rhetoric as a stiletto. The rhetoric, more than anything else apart from Watergate, got him in trouble. It was what made people associate him with the right wing,” Parmet said.
He was an extraordinarily deft politician and perhaps the most resilient political figure of the modern era, displaying an almost uncanny ability to rebound from near-disaster. Yet he never fit neatly into either the Republican Party’s moderate wing of Nelson A. Rockefeller or the conservative camp of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.
Comeback, Comedown
With an emotional speech less than two months before Election Day, 1952, he regained his hold on the Republican vice presidential nomination after being accused of paying personal expenses with an $18,235 “slush fund” created by wealthy Californians. As vice president for eight years, he survived a sour relationship with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
And from his cliffhanger loss of the presidency in 1960 to John F. Kennedy, and his loss of the California governorship in 1962 to Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr., he staged a remarkable comeback. In 1968, the most turbulent political year in the past half-century–when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, when national political conventions were disrupted by riots–he emerged from the smoke and tear gas and generational anger to defeat Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and claim his prize: the presidency of the United States.
Four years later, he scored a record-setting landslide victory against Democratic Sen. George S. McGovern of South Dakota.
But despite his successes, his career was dogged by the shadows of a darker side. He was awkward in public. He never demonstrated the ease of a successful politician, nor seemed to take any comfort from the adulation of the crowds.
On a deeper level, he was by nature suspicious and mistrustful.
It was those qualities that allowed–indeed enabled–the burglary at the Watergate to escalate into the most stunning presidential debacle in history.
Before it ended with his resignation, it had ensnared not only the President, but the most senior members of his White House staff, Cabinet members and the FBI, which he was accused of misusing.
Perhaps even more important, and certainly more lasting, it spread across the body politic a cynicism that infects the political process to this day.
The Early Years
Richard Milhous Nixon was born Jan. 9, 1913, to a Quaker mother and a Methodist father in Yorba Linda, where he spent the early years of his life before his family moved to Whittier. As a young boy, he did well in school and worked in his father’s grocery store, which provided the family with a modest income.
He graduated from Whittier College in 1934, ranking second in his class and earning plaudits and respect for his debating skills. He enrolled at Duke Law School, where he was known as a bookish young man who often studied while classmates played. He graduated third in his class and returned to Whittier, where he practiced trial law.
It was at a Whittier community theater, where they were auditioning for parts in a play, that Nixon met Thelma Catherine (Pat) Ryan, a tall, lithesome strawberry-blonde who was a shorthand and typing teacher at the high school. They were married in 1940.
Two years later, with World War II raging, Nixon began a four-year stint in the Navy. After the war, he returned to California and immediately sought and won a seat in Congress in 1946.
In Washington, the young Republican quickly gained a reputation for his zealous pursuit of communists working in the federal government. His platform was the House Un-American Activities Committee, and his most famous case involved Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist Party courier, and former State Department official Alger Hiss, who was accused by Chambers of passing secrets to Soviet agents.
Senate Campaign
The reputation boosted his popularity at home, and he rode the wave into his 1950 campaign for U.S. Senate. In that storied contest, Nixon branded his Democratic opponent, Helen Mary Gahagan Douglas, “the Pink Lady” and accused the New Deal Democrat of supporting American Labor Party leader Vito Marcantonio, a representative from New York known in Congress as a communist sympathizer.
Nixon’s supporters blanketed California with bright pink leaflets that linked Douglas and Marcantonio in House votes. With America in the throes of anti-communist fears, Nixon’s tactic was devastating. He won by nearly 700,000 votes.
The Senate contest brought Nixon national recognition, and the ambitious young politician, who had a scant half-decade of elected public service, trained his sights next on national office. He assailed President Harry S. Truman as soft on communism and correctly surmised that Eisenhower was a rising star in the Republican Party.
Nixon worked for the revered general’s 1952 presidential candidacy and was selected as Eisenhower’s vice presidential running mate. He was 39 years old.
Buoyed by a rousing reception at the Republican convention, Nixon hit the campaign trail with vigor–only to run into charges that he had personally benefited from the “slush fund” established by millionaires.
In what became known as the Checkers speech, Nixon defended himself against the charges in a nationwide radio and television address. He detailed modest personal items belonging to him and his family, including Checkers, a spaniel given to his children by an admirer.
“Pat and I have the satisfaction that every dime that we’ve got is honestly ours. I should say this, that Pat doesn’t have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I always tell her that she would look good in anything,” the struggling candidate said.
“I don’t believe that I ought to quit, because I am not a quitter,” Nixon said. “But the decision, my friends, is not mine.” He went on to urge those in the audience to express their views to the Republican National Committee about whether he should be taken off the GOP ticket. The public responded with more than 2 million letters and telegrams, urging him to stay by a margin of 350 to 1.
“You’re my boy,” Eisenhower told Nixon after the broadcast.
Road to Presidency
In the wake of a landslide victory that fall, Nixon began serving the first of his two terms as vice president–during which he enjoyed extraordinary symbolic powers, even if his actual influence on policy was less substantive.
He was called upon to take an extensive goodwill tour of Asia in 1953, and he visited Central America in 1955 and South America in 1958. During his visit to Caracas, Venezuela, leftist mobs smashed Nixon’s automobile windows and perhaps would have killed him had Venezuelan troops not arrived. For his part, Nixon earned praise for maintaining calm during the attack.
Nominated as his party’s presidential candidate in 1960, Nixon became a victim of the same medium that had served him so well in the Checkers speech. His narrow loss to Kennedy was attributed largely to the striking difference between the two candidates in televised debates. Nixon’s heavy jowls, shadowed by stubble, and his nervous manner played poorly alongside Kennedy’s relaxed confidence, wit and youthful good looks.
Nixon’s political fortunes continued to sink as he lost the tough gubernatorial fight to Brown in 1962.
This time the anti-communist tactic failed Nixon, and in defeat he accused the media of sustained bias in covering his political career. His parting shot during his concession speech: “I leave you gentlemen now, and you will now write it. You will interpret it. That’s your right. But as I leave you I want you to know–just think how much you’re going to be missing. You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference.”
But he came back. After joining a New York law firm in 1963, Nixon, showing party loyalty, campaigned for Barry Goldwater in the conservative Arizonan’s humiliating 1964 presidential race. Nixon became an effective fund-raiser and set his sights once more on the White House, winning the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 and going on to narrowly defeat Humphrey.
Nixon’s victory that year was attributed to shrewd planning that exploited deep divisions among the Democrats who controlled the government. The diligent young men who ran the Nixon campaign became the core of the new White House staff, where they were extraordinarily adept at synthesizing problems for the President’s action and at shielding him from unwanted intrusion, protecting the privacy he cherished.
New Ideas Flourish
In the afterglow of his election on Nov. 5, 1968, Nixon told supporters that his goal was to “bring the American people together” under “an open Administration, open to new ideas, open to men and women of both parties, open to the critics as well as those who support us.”
New ideas indeed flourished in his Administration’s dealings with the communist world and in its concerted effort to reduce the federal role in routine government functions. The number of women in high posts increased, and even Democrats occasionally were appointed to the Nixon Administration.
At the same time, the Nixon White House always reflected the reclusive temperament and industrious work habits of its resident–habits shaped by his early years of work in his father’s grocery store. Access to this Administration was never open. Information was tightly controlled and unauthorized news leaks brought reprisals.
In 1972, Nixon appealed for a “new majority” that crossed the middle-class spectrum, but he left most campaigning to a platoon of “surrogate candidates” headed by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew.
Members of the White House staff were deeply involved in oversight of the lavishly financed operation. With the nation deeply divided over the Vietnam War and weary of radical and occasionally violent confrontations on college campuses, Nixon’s campaign called for law and order in the United States and a strong American role overseas, and it portrayed his Democratic opponent, McGovern, as a liberal who sympathized with college demonstrators and who would surrender America’s interests abroad.
Nixon won by an overwhelming margin, with 61% of the popular vote and 521 electoral votes to McGovern’s 17.
During his 5 1/2 years as President, Nixon was confronted by a series of domestic and foreign crises, including inflation and the cancerous Vietnam War.
Nixon’s escalation of U.S. involvement in the war ignited a firestorm of domestic protests. At the same time, he tried to mute the criticism by ending the draft in 1973.
Law and order was one of Nixon’s prime domestic concerns: It was foreshadowed in 1968 campaign speeches, in which he saddled the Democrats with blame for mounting crime statistics. After the election, the theme was apparent in his choice of hard-line conservative John N. Mitchell, his former law partner and campaign director, to be his attorney general. It also was manifest in the Administration’s requests for measures to strengthen the prosecution’s hand in criminal cases, in the conservative trend of Nixon’s judicial appointments and in his Administration’s response to anti-war demonstrations.
The demonstrations began during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration and they continued despite Nixon’s warning at a 1969 news conference that “under no circumstances will I be affected by them.” Nor were the demonstrators appeased by Nixon’s decision in June, 1969, to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Vietnam.
The protests spread from U.S. campuses, and about half a million Americans took part nationwide in a solemn, orderly “moratorium day” on Oct. 15, 1969.
Vietnam War Protests
Nixon’s stated plan for Vietnam was to “Vietnamize” the war by training and equipping South Vietnamese troops for an ever-larger role in the conflict. But it also entailed bold military strokes to protect the Americans who remained in Southeast Asia.
Late in April, 1970, an attack was secretly mounted on the communist bases in the jungles of neutral Cambodia, and anti-war protests revived.
The nation was horrified on May 4, 1970, when a confrontation between demonstrating students and Ohio National Guard troops at Kent State University ended in a volley from Guard rifles that left four young people dead.
Nixon issued a stiff statement that deplored the affair and observed that, “when dissent turns to violence, it invites tragedy.” Within a week, upward of 50,000 students converged on Washington in an unplanned protest that was bitter but nonviolent.
Amid signs of White House concern, student groups were invited to talk with presidential aides, and Nixon met with a group from Kent State to say he recognized the right of peaceful protest.
At dawn the next morning, the President appeared unannounced among demonstrators bivouacked at the Lincoln Memorial. He later said he advised the students: “Keep it peaceful–remember, I feel as deeply as you do about this.”
But the demonstrations flared again after U.S. planes provided massive support to South Vietnamese troops that crossed the border into Laos in February, 1971, in another attempt to destroy communist sanctuaries.
Nixon viewed street disorders as an outward symbol of a trend to “permissiveness,” which he deplored as a candidate and as President. He sought to reverse it by appointment of judges committed to rigid interpretations of the Constitution, and he began at the top with the Supreme Court.
No actions of the Nixon presidency may have cast a longer shadow into the future than the lifetime appointments he made to fill the four vacancies on the nine-seat court that occurred during his first term. Collectively, the changes spelled the end of the liberal activism that had characterized high court decisions for nearly two decades.
2 Nominees Rejected
The process was not easy for the President, for two of his nominees were rejected by the Senate after tempestuous confirmation hearings.
Nixon had no difficulty in winning clearance in May, 1969, for Warren E. Burger, a conservative appeals court judge from Minnesota, to replace the retiring Earl Warren as chief justice.
A second vacancy cleared the way in August, 1969, for nomination of Clement F. Haynsworth, a South Carolina appeals judge, but the Senate balked. It also rejected G. Harrold Carswell, the Florida district judge Nixon nominated after Haynsworth.
Nixon protested that he could not achieve confirmation for a strict constructionist who “happens to come from the South,” and nominated Harry A. Blackmun, a Minnesota appeals court judge. Blackmun, who became the court’s leading liberal, is retiring in September.
Throughout much of his tenure, Nixon was plagued by a troubled national economy, resulting largely from a combination of Vietnam War expenditures and Johnson’s spending on Great Society programs.
The Republican President tried a series of economic remedies, including a 90-day freeze on all wages and prices in 1971, with any increases subject to approval by a cost of living council. Nixon also persuaded Congress to change the Post Office Department into the quasi-private agency it is today.
And, with the help of Congress, he embarked on a course of “new federalism,” providing state and local jurisdictions with $30 billion over five years as revenue-sharing funds.
The initiatives were part of a period of experimentation with domestic policy, producing a precursor to some of the programs being advanced now by Clinton.
Although Nixon generally ignored minorities and the poor, developing few programs targeting them, he did attempt in 1969 to overhaul the welfare system through a guaranteed annual income, thereby departing dramatically from Republican tenets.
But the plan, created by Nixon aide Daniel Patrick Moynihan, now a U.S. senator from New York, was scrapped the next year as congressional liberals and Southern Democrats opposed it. In addition, blacks were skeptical of the proposal, noting Nixon’s persistent criticism of busing as a remedy for school desegregation and his efforts to appoint conservative Supreme Court justices.
Domestic Vs. Foreign
For Nixon, the salvation of blacks was in “black capitalism,” a theme he explored in a speech in October, 1965, to black Republicans at a $300-a-plate dinner in New York. Nixon, whose 1969 executive order established the Office of Minority Business Enterprise, likened the group of blacks to sports heroes, saying they should shun quotas and instead seek progress by “being the best.”
Citing the success of Jackie Robinson in baseball and Arthur Ashe in tennis, Nixon said: “These people are not champions because they are part of a quota, but because they are the best. The same has to happen in private enterprise.”
Although many believe that his record on domestic issues was mixed, Nixon’s foreign policy achievements were more apparent.
In May, 1972, the onetime redbaiter visited Moscow–just two weeks after the Soviet Union had vehemently criticized a new round of U.S. air attacks launched on North Vietnam in a double-edged effort to blunt a communist offensive in the South and to jolt the Hanoi regime into serious peace negotiations.
Despite continuing differences on Vietnam, Nixon and Soviet leaders signed agreements to limit offensive and defensive strategic weapons. A spate of lesser accords also flowed from the meetings. One byproduct was a $1-billion deal to sell U.S. grain to Russia that brought election-year joy to American wheat farmers as a supply squeeze boosted domestic prices to record highs.
The former President’s pragmatic views toward the Soviet Union showed up years later, in March, 1986, when he addressed the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, calling for “a new realism” in dealing with the Soviets. Nixon said the two superpowers “can never be friends, but we cannot afford to be enemies,” and he urged leaders of both countries to avoid an “insane” continuation of the nuclear arms race.
Nixon cited the “Nixon Doctrine” as one of his more significant contributions to foreign policy. Initiated partly to quell domestic criticism of the Vietnam War, the doctrine acknowledged the limitations of U.S. military power and promised to restrict its use in international crises that might arise in the future.
China Triumph
But clearly, Nixon’s greatest triumph was with China, especially his trip there in February, 1972. It was a political image maker’s dream: the hard-line anti-communist visiting the world’s largest communist country and pronouncing it fit for relations with the United States.
In an interview with The Times in June, 1984, Nixon cited a 1968 article he had written advocating improved relations with China and said, “I had made up my mind before coming to office” to do so.
He saw the long-term importance the Pacific Basin held for the United States, said Parmet, the historian, “and he felt very concerned about pursuing our interests in that area without China.”
In the short term, Nixon’s trip led to limited resumption of U.S.-Chinese relations, which had been frozen since the Korean War, and to modest trade, travel and cultural agreements. Ultimately, it led in 1978 to resumption of full diplomatic relations and steadily expanding relationships in many non-military fields under the Jimmy Carter Administration.
By 1986, Nixon had paid four return visits to China as an ex-President and was received on each occasion as an elder statesman. In February, 1976, for example, he and Mrs. Nixon went to what was then Peking as guests of the government at ceremonies that officially commemorated the fourth anniversary of his initial visit and unofficially provided desired exposure for Acting Premier Hua Guofend, who praised Nixon’s “farsightedness” in building ties between Peking and Washington. Mao Tse-tung, China’s venerable Communist Party chairman, gave Nixon an audience that lasted an hour and 40 minutes.
Hua had succeeded Mao as party chairman when the Nixons paid their second visit in September, 1979, again as a guest of the government, and Deng Xiaoping was in Hua’s powerful former post. When Nixon visited China in September, 1985, a college vice president glowingly described Nixon as “an old friend of China,” and the Chinese mobbed him after a speech as he headed for a Red Flag limousine, seeking his autograph or just a touch of his hand.
Trouble at Home
Nixon also was received like a hero in Egypt in June, 1974–even as the curtain was rising on the last act of the Watergate drama. He made the trip as part of a Middle East tour that also took him to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria and Jordan.
But by then, Nixon was a President disgraced.
The Watergate scandal was named for the June, 1972, break-in at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate, a sleek, sprawling office and apartment complex that overlooks the Potomac River near Georgetown.
Tenuous links to the White House were made soon after the break-in, when some of the burglars–who were caught by a security guard–were found to be carrying White House telephone numbers.
The episode was initially dismissed by the White House as a “third-rate burglary” unauthorized by anyone of rank.
But during the next two years, inquiries pressed first by a judge and the press, then by Congress and special prosecutors, unraveled a web of political crimes: “hush money” paid to the burglars, other efforts to block investigators, wiretaps of “White House enemies,” establishment of the White House “plumbers” to plug information leaks, campaign “dirty tricks” and more.
The developing scandal diminished public confidence in the President. In late 1973, it limited his efforts to cope with an energy crisis that threw the economy into a tailspin. The immediate effects were a quick jump in unemployment and a surge in an inflation rate that already was causing concern.
Nixon had proposed a long-range program to make the nation self-sufficient in energy resources before the crisis struck. But his Administration was ill-prepared when a new flare-up of hostilities between Israel and its Arab neighbors led in October, 1973, to an Arab embargo on export of oil to nations friendly to Israel–particularly the United States.
While thermostats were lowered and lines at gasoline stations grew longer, Nixon dispatched Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to half a dozen capitals in an attempt to loosen the embargo and bring peace to the area. Kissinger’s prodding helped produce an uneasy truce between Israel and Egypt, and Arab oil began flowing again after a five-month shut-off.
All the while, Watergate continued to unravel. As public revelations brought responsibility for the cover-up closer and closer to the White House, Nixon’s top lieutenants toppled like dominoes. First Mitchell resigned as his campaign director. Then H. R. Haldeman and John D. Ehrlichman, his closest White House aides, resigned.
A Senate committee chaired by the late Sam J. Ervin Jr. (D-N.C.) investigated Watergate on national television in the spring and summer of 1973 and learned that a secret taping system had recorded all of Nixon’s White House conversations. The evidence from those tapes, which are still played daily for tourists at the National Archives, proved to be some of the most damning against the President.
Six days after the break-in, Nixon, on tape, agreed with a suggestion by his chief of staff, Haldeman, that orders should be given to the Central Intelligence Agency to impede the FBI’s investigation of the Watergate money trail.
But what was not on the tapes was equally damning: On one of the seemingly most crucial tapes, a gap of about 18 minutes and 15 seconds gave rise to suspicion that even more damaging statements had been erased.
And, with the raw presidential language demonstrated on the tapes, their publication introduced to the American vocabulary the phrase “expletive deleted.”
Nixon initially refused to turn over the tapes to Archibald Cox, the special Watergate prosecutor in the Justice Department. When Cox pressed his demand, Nixon ordered Atty. Gen. Elliot L. Richardson to fire him. In what became known as the “Saturday night massacre,” Nixon fired first Richardson and then his deputy, William D. Ruckelshaus, for refusing to fire Cox, before Solicitor General Robert H. Bork became acting attorney general and carried out Nixon’s order.
‘I’m Not a Crook’
The President of the United States persevered. “I’m not a crook,” he told a November, 1973, meeting of journalists at Disney World in Florida.
The same could not be said of other top figures in the Administration. After Houston attorney Leon Jaworski replaced Cox as Watergate special prosecutor, a grand jury indicted Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman and four others on charges of covering up the Watergate break-in. Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator.
In July, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment, charging Nixon with obstructing justice, misusing his presidential power and defying committee subpoenas. But before the full House could consider the impeachment articles, Nixon resigned on Aug. 9.
“If some of my judgments were wrong–and some were wrong–they were made in what I believed at the time to be the best interest of the nation,” Nixon said as he announced his resignation. But he admitted no guilt.
“While I was not involved in the decision to conduct the break-in, I should have set a higher standard for the conduct of the people who participated in my campaign and Administration. I should have established a moral tone that would have made such actions unthinkable. I did not,” Nixon wrote in 1990 in his ninth book, “In the Arena.”
Emerging From Exile
A month after his resignation, many in the country were outraged when Nixon’s successor, Gerald R. Ford, issued a pardon for all crimes that Nixon “committed or may have committed or taken part in” during his presidency.
Retreating to Casa Pacifica, his beachfront home in San Clemente, Calif., Nixon made few forays outside. For a time, an occasional 18 holes of golf with close friends at the Shorecliff Club near San Clemente was his most public activity.
But he emerged three years later for five televised conversations with interviewer David Frost. In the interviews, excerpted from 20 hours of tapes and for which Nixon was paid upward of $600,000, the former President displayed the full range of his moods, from self-pitying gloom to expansive confidence.
“I let down my friends. I let down the country. I let down our system of government,” Nixon said. He conceded that he had come so close to the “edge of the law” in advising White House associates on “how to present their cases” that a “reasonable person could call that a cover-up.”
But he declared that he “didn’t think of it as a cover-up” and said: “If I intended to cover up, believe me, I’d have done it.”
Nixon’s revealing interviews were televised as he and a rear guard of loyalists finished work on the former President’s memoirs.
Tale of Two Books
As a personalized footnote, the work was dubious history. Nixon’s foes campaigned against it under the slogan, “Don’t buy books from crooks.” But the 1,090-page book, “RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon,” yielded close to $2 million in syndication rights and royalties for its author.
Nixon told Frost that his wife, Pat, had suffered a stroke in 1976, three days after reading “The Final Days,” a book about Nixon’s last days in office by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters whose aggressive pursuit of the Watergate story had won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize. Calling the book trash, Nixon said the media had achieved a “license to lie,” and suggested that public figures under media attack should “come right back and crack ‘em in the puss.”
In the years since, however, Nixon mellowed and began emerging more frequently into the public eye. Most recently, in mid-March, he made his 10th visit to Russia and met with the ultranationalist leader Vladimir V. Zhirinovsky, whom he described as “a brilliant political tactician” who “pushes hot-button issues that are totally irresponsible.”
Later, the former President wrote in the New York Times that “Russia’s political scene can only be described as chaotic.”
Playing up to the final days of his life the role he carved out for himself–that of the interpreter for the United States of the mysterious ways of the Kremlin–he wrote: “President Yeltsin has lost much of the mystique from his historic role in the destruction of Soviet Communism. He may be finding that history is against him. Over the centuries, revolutionary leaders have not been good nation-builders.”
It was through such writings–his 10th book is expected to be published in June–that Nixon worked assiduously to repair his public image, and he did so with some success.
When he left office, his popularity stood at 26%. But another measure of popularity in 1986 demonstrated a rebound: 54% said Ford was correct to have pardoned him and nearly 40% said they would like to see him in a public role, as an ambassador or presidential adviser. Still, a poll last November found that only 37% approved of the job he had done as President–trailing Kennedy and each subsequent President, with the exception of Johnson.
Although out of the Watergate shadow, he kept a relatively low profile. He offered advice to Republican candidates, and political handicapping. In June, 1992, he predicted a close presidential race between George Bush and Ross Perot; in September of that year, he told Bush–correctly, it turned out–to give up on California.
On occasion, he expressed himself on the domestic issues of the day, taking what his onetime speech writer, William Safire, pegged a progressive position in a column last December in the New York Times:
Abortion? “The state should stay out; don’t subsidize and don’t prohibit.”
Gun control? “I’d go further than the Brady bill. Guns are an abomination.”
TV violence? “Hollywood thinks America is sick . . . ! They’re the sick ones.”
He quietly tried to head off the lifting of the trade embargo on Vietnam, more than a year before Clinton eventually took such action, and he spoke by telephone with Clinton–eventually meeting with him privately–to tutor him on the need for the United States to take the lead in delivering aid to Russia.
The Nixons sold Casa Pacifica in mid-1979 to three Orange County businessmen and moved without ceremony to a Manhattan townhouse for which they paid $750,000 in February, 1980. They sold it, too, in September, 1981, to the Syrian government for $2.6 million as a residence for its U.N. ambassador. Leaving Manhattan, they bought a modern dwelling in suburban Saddle River, N.J., for a reported $1 million, and, later, moved to the nearby community of Park Ridge.
Although most of the books the former President wrote after leaving office dealt with foreign policy and his view of the world, “In the Arena” was more personal.
“Two thousand years ago, the poet Sophocles wrote, ‘One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.’ There is still some time before the sun goes down, but even now, I can look back and say that the day has indeed been splendid,” Nixon wrote.
He concluded:
“In the end, what matters is that you have always lived life to the hilt. I have been on the highest mountains and in the deepest valleys, but I have never lost sight of my destination–a world in which peace and freedom can live together. I have won some great victories and suffered some devastating defeats. But win or lose, I feel fortunate to have come to that time in life when I can finally enjoy what my Quaker grandmother would have called ‘peace at the center.’ ”
Times staff writer John J. Goldman in New York contributed to this story. Times researchers Pat Welch and Linda Malone also contributed.
* A LIFE IN POLITICS: A glance at Nixon’s career, in words and pictures. A20-A22
Key Dates in Richard Nixon’s Life
Richard Nixon
Age: 81
Education: Whittier College, Whittier, Calif., 1934; Duke University Law School, 1937.
Experience: Served in Navy in World War II. Congressman from California, 1946-50; U.S. Senator, 1951-52; Vice President, 1953-61; President, 1969-74.
Family: Wife, Pay Ryan, died in 1993. Two children, Julie and Tricia.
Jan. 9, 1913: Born in Yorba Linda, Calif., son of Francis and Hannah Nixon.
June 21, 1940: Marries Thelma (Pat) Ryan.
1946: Elected to first of two terms in U.S. House.
1950: Elected to U.S. Senate. In the course of his victory, brands his opponent, Helen Mary Gahagan Douglas, “The Pink Lady,” accusing her of supporting Vito Marcantonio, a representative from New York known in Congress as a communist sympathizer.
1952: Elected vice president as running mate to Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ran into charges that he benefited from a “slush fund.” He successfully defends himself on national television. “You’re my boy,” Eisenhower told Nixon later.
1956: Re-elected as vice president.
1960: Narrowly loses presidency to John F. Kennedy.
1962: Loses California governor’s race; bitterly tells reporters, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around any more.”
1968: Elected President over Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey and independent George C. Wallace.
Jan. 20, 1969: Sworn in as 37th President of the United States.
June, 1969: Nixon announces the beginning of troop withdrawal from Vietnam. This hardly appeased anti-war demonstrators, who stepped up their protests.
July 15, 1971: Makes surprise announcement of plans to visit China.
February, 1972: Makes historic first trip to Communist China.
June 17, 1972: Break-in at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex.
November, 1972: Re-elected in landslide over George McGovern.
Aug. 9, 1974: Resigns as President in culmination of Watergate scandal.
Sept. 8, 1974: Receives unconditional pardon from successor Gerald R. Ford.
June 22, 1993: Pat Nixon dies of lung cancer.
Notable Quotes from Nixon’s Career
On His Trip to China: “There can be no stable and enduring peace without the participation of the People’s Republic of China. . .I have taken this action because of my profound conviction that all nations will gain from a reduction of tensions and a better relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.”
In announcing his acceptance of an invitation to visit China July 15, 1971.
On U.S.-Russian Relations: “There has been too much of a tendency to assume that everything is going smoothly between our two countries. That is not true. Because if you look at the situation in Russia and in America, there are some profoundly disturbing developments.”
From his address to Russian lawmakers during a recent visit, March 14, 1994.
Notable Quotes From Nixon’s Career
On Watergate: “People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook. I earned everything I’ve got.”
From speech to the Associated Press Managing Editors Assn., Disney World, Nov. 17, 1973
“I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover-up or anything else, if it’ll save it–save the plan. That’s the whole point.”
Instructions to John Dean, John Ehrlichman, Robert Haldeman and John Mitchell, March 22, 1973).
On Charges He Benefited From a “Slush Fund”: “Pat and I have the satisfaction that every dime that we’ve got is honestly ours. I should say this, that Pat doesn’t have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat, and I always tell her that she would look good in anything.”
From his Checkers speech to the nation, Sept. 23, 1952.
Notable Quotes From Nixon’s Career
On The Vietnam War: “If, when the chips are down, the world’s most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world.”
From speech to the nation on the invasion of Cambodia, April 30, 1970.
On The Presidency: “Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth–to see it as it is, and tell it like it is–to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth.”
From speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination, Aug. 8, 1968.
“I believe in the battle–whether it’s the battle of a campaign or the battle of this office, which is a continuing battle.”
In an interview after his second inauguration, Jan. 20, 1973.
Spain’s Enric Mas extended his overall lead in the Vuelta a Espana with a late attack as Slovenia’s Jakob Omrzel won stage 12 to Calar Alto.
Omrzel, 20, secured his first Grand Tour stage victory in imperious fashion, riding clear of his remaining breakaway companions on the 17km final climb to finish nearly two minutes clear of Urko Berrade, with Colombia’s Santiago Buitrago in third.
In the process Omrzel moved within 30 seconds of Oscar Onley in the best young rider’s classification after a difficult day for the Briton.
The Netcompany Ineos rider suffered an early crash and was then dropped by his main rivals early on the final climb, eventually finishing over two minutes behind Mas and slipping a place to fifth in the GC.
Movistar rider Mas broke from a small pack including four-time champion Primoz Roglic and Felix Gall with about 13km of the mountainous 166.6km course left.
Slovenian Roglic and Austrian Gall, who sit second and third in the general classification, could not respond as Mas increased his advantage by a further 27 seconds on a day of searing heat on a mountainous course that featured five categorised climbs.
Mas finished sixth, just under three minutes adrift of Ormzel, but extended his overall lead to one minute 56 seconds.
Tadej Pogacar had been leading the Vuelta by almost four minutes but crashed out on stage eight, breaking his collarbone in what may be a season-ending injury.
The race ends in Andalusia on Sunday, 13 September with stages to come in the mountains and hills around Malaga and Granada’s Sierra Nevada.
Daisy Chain Fields arrived on a sweltering summer Saturday, plopped in the middle of Irvine’s suede hills, inside Orange County lines. The festival, hosted by Olivia Rodrigo at the Great Park, was a spiritual successor to Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair of the late ‘90s, born out of frustration with promoters and radio stations that refused to play two female artists in a row.
Like McLachlan’s event, Daisy Chain Fields boasted an all-female lineup, featuring some of the most coveted names in the contemporary music scene. The festival also gave a nod to some of the industry’s women pioneers, such as Bikini Kill and Garbage.
Anticipation for the festival was high after Rodrigo unveiled it in late June, with tickets selling out just 30 minutes after release. This translated directly onto the grounds, which were swarmed by 45,000 attendees, comprising teenage girls, moms, dads and everyone in between.
The event raised $10 million to benefit 10 girl- and women-focused nonprofit organizations, all of which made an appearance on stage before each artist’s set. Each musician on the lineup performed for free.
Festivalgoers walk past the Great Park Balloon.
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1. Festival goers pose for pictures in front of a daisy backdrop. 2. Nara Brown from Costa Mesa ties together a flower headpiece.
As the sun went down and Rodrigo took the stage, she announced that proceeds had been 100% matched by billionaire and philanthropist Melinda French Gates, bringing total donations to $20 million.
The Times was on site to witness the festival in all its glory, amid astounding 94 degree heat and an unwavering, tangible electricity among fans. Here is our recap of the best moments from the festival. —Julius Miller
Livies get loud on the Metrolink
The 2 p.m. Metrolink train from Union Station in L.A. to Orange County was absolutely mobbed with Livies (a.k.a. Olivia Rodrigo fans) on Saturday. For such a car-brained region, it was sweet to see public transit packed with young fans in festival regalia, making the grind to Irvine more sane and green. Let’s have this vibe for every major SoCal festival (including the car-free Ocean Way next month). Yet, for new train fans, a gentle reminder: one spirited round of singing “Get Him Back!” as you’re climbing onboard? Endearing, a delight for all. Keeping it up for an hour, next to civilian commuters who looked ready to climb onto the tracks themselves by Buena Park? Maybe save that for the pit. —August Brown
Festivalgoers sing as Olivia Rodrigo performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Devon Again performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Devon Again felt so lucky that she gets to know you
25-year-old alt-pop princess Devon Again was a last-minute addition to the Daisy Chain Fields bill, replacing global girl group Katseye, who pulled out of the festival on Thursday due to a member’s ankle injury. Luckily, Devon Again, a personal friend of Rodrigo who will open for her tour starting in November, was there to answer Rodrigo’s call with a resounding “Duh, b—! Obviously I want to do it!” as she relayed to the Saturday afternoon crowd. Though Katseye’s presence was felt — members Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Yoonchae Jeong took the stage to introduce nonprofit partner Baby2Baby before the set, and Devon Again’s drummer wore a Katseye shirt in tribute — Devon Again’s self-confessed impostor syndrome was misplaced. With a rollicking mix of high-energy country twang, twisty ballads and production-heavy pop hits bolstered by her crisp belt, she made the stage her own. —Eloise Rollins-Fife
Die Spitz dives into a great early set
The set began with a five-minute delay due to technical issues, during which bassist Kate Halter — impressively — performed several handstands to pass the time. By 1:45 p.m., the band was ready to go, with frontwoman Ellie Livingston kicking off the performance. Draped in a torn white skirt and black fishnet gloves to complement, she wailed “I hate when girls die.”
Die Spitz’s set felt like the epitome of what Daisy Chain was all about. The band members took turns strutting around stage and acknowledging, “I know it’s f— hot!” But that didn’t stop the crowd from forming mosh pits on the left and right side of the yellow Marigold stage. At one point, Livingston even jumped in herself, to the despair of security and the delight of fans. —JM
Eleanor “Ellie” Livingston of Die Spitz performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Santigold’s set was worth fighting for
Santigold’s eclectic, genre-defying sound may be a hallmark of the “indie sleaze” era, but her standout midday Daisy Chain set proved she has plenty of staying power in 2026. Dressed in all white and flanked by a pair of straight-faced dancers in futuristic sunglasses, the 49-year-old artist performed back-to-back hits like “Run the Road” and “L.E.S. Artistes” to a crowd ready to dance the pain away. She even brought a handful of fans onstage — mostly, adorably, children — for a follow-along dance contest during “Unstoppable,” with a winner determined by cheers. Wrapping up the set with “Disparate Youth,” Santigold reminded the audience to keep believing in “a life worth fighting for.” –ERF
Santigold transports the crowd to the early aughts era of indie sleaze during Daisy Chain Fields.
Bikini Kill double dares Daisy Chain crowd to keep fighting the power
“This government hates us and wants us dead,” proclaimed punk icon and Bikini Kill frontwoman Kathleen Hanna: a critical guiding light for Olivia Rodrigo’s feminist consciousness, as well as that of thousands of Daisy Chain attendees on Saturday. Since the band’s inception in 1990, the OG riot grrrls of Bikini Kill made social justice the centripetal force of their furor — long before Daisy Chain Fields, and even its late ‘90s predecessor Lilith Fair. Powered by Tobi Vail on drums (and occasional vocals), Kathy Wilcox on bass and Sara Landeau on guitar, the electric Hanna buffered classic songs like “Double Dare Ya” and “Feels Blind” with parables from her own revolutionary life — much of which she spent fighting back against objectification from men. Dudes in Saturday’s crowd got a special directive: “You guys gotta talk to your friends [about misogyny],” said Hanna. “[Women] are not gonna stop this on our own!” Sealed with a kiss and delivered with a snarl, the band closed its rip-roaring set with the anthemic battle cry of “Rebel Girl,” and were flanked onstage by a few lucky young fans. —Suzy Exposito
Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna preaches a message of anti-misogyny to the crowd during Daisy Chain Fields.
Mitski brought melodrama and musical magic
Whether you’ve been rocking with Mitski since the “Lush” days or discovered her music via pandemic-era Tik Tok, when industrial ballads like “Washing Machine Heart” unexpectedly popped off, there’s no denying her captivating stage presence — not to mention her stunning vocals. Longtime fans may have wished for a few more of the hits (no “Your Best American Girl” after the recent “Puberty 2” 10th anniversary re-release was a surprise), but indie music’s favorite sad-woman still brought her A-game to the Dandelion Stage, incorporating her signature “Butoh” performance style — a form of avant-garde Japanese dance-theatre — underscored by a backdrop of 1940s melodramas. During her set she implored Rodrigo to make the festival an annual tradition. “When do you get to be the first anything anymore?” she said. “For the rest of our lives, we could be like, ‘I’m OG DCF.” – ERF
Mitski performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
The Breeders deliver ‘Last Splash’ classics
Hand it to Kim Deal: As one of the OGs on the bill at Daisy Chain Fields, the Breeders frontwoman used her band’s performance to shout out an even earlier pathbreaker by wearing an old Shirley Chisholm campaign T-shirt featuring the first Black congresswoman’s slogan of “Unbought and unbossed.” Deal and her bandmates (including her twin sister Kelley) drew deeply from their classic 1993 “Last Splash” LP, loping through the country-ish “Drivin’ on 9,” chugging on a fuzzed-out “Saints” and pricking up Gen Z ears with the perennially TikTok’d “Cannonball.” — Mikael Wood
The Breeders play songs from their 1993 classic album “Last Splash” during Daisy Chain Fields.
Doechii does it for the girls
Under the hot afternoon sun, Grammy award-winning rapper Doechii celebrated all things girls in her typical over-the-top fashion. She and her dancers arrived onstage painted in hot pink, the swamp princess’ hair fashioned into high pigtails. A dance breakdown to a hardcore take on Beyoncé’s “Run the World (Girls)” introduced the set, and though she fed fans by performing some of her most popular singles — a version of “Anxiety” that morphed into a cover of the original sample “Somebody I Used to Know” by Goyte, “Alter Ego” and tracks like “Nissan Altima” and “Boiled Peanuts” from her 2024 album “Alligator Bites Never Heal” — she also reminded festivalgoers of the influential Black women artists who came before her — Lauryn Hill, Queen Latifah, Beyoncé — by mixing their iconic songs into hers. Glowing magenta, she twirled above what looked to be a rising river, a physical representation of the swirling, engulfing thoughts that anxiety can provoke as she performed the song by the same name. And just to ensure there was zero confusion, the Florida rapper ended her set by simply stating: “We do this for the girls, we do this for the gays and we do this for trans women.” —Danielle Dorsey
Doechii performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Doechii
Garbage gives grunge power to Gen Z
With its blend of serrated alt-rock guitars and sleek machine rhythms, Garbage always sounded a little ahead of its time when the band broke out in the post-grunge mid-’90s. But as frontwoman Shirley Manson evoked an age of digital surveillance and pharmacological dependence in “I Think I’m Paranoid” — one of the era’s great snarling pop singles — what you realized is that history had finally caught up with the band. — MW
Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage, performs during Daisy Chain Fields.
Chappell Roan reigns with a hit-heavy set
It’s funny to think that Chappell Roan has only really been in the American music scene for the past six years, with just one studio album to her name.
Roan appeared from the back of stage, revealing her leather, periwinkle stewardess outfit and red mod bob — an apparent nod to Luc Besson’s 1997 film “The Fifth Element.” Naturally, the crowd roared as she dove bob-first into “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl.” She’d occasionally crouch down to take a sip from her water bottle, which matched her ensemble.
Roan looked especially happy to be there, happily performing for free and her set did not disappoint.
“Only the hits today,” she said, smiling. “Only the hits.” —JM
Festivalgoers dance in the “MicroRave.”
Not for Radio crank up the volume
Just after sundown, the Marías’ enigmatic leading lady, María Zardoya, emerged to perform songs from her nocturne solo project, Not for Radio. Circled by a verdant reproduction of an enchanted forest, and dressed in a black swan-like two-piece by Ann Demeulemeester, Zardoya held the audience captive with her purring soprano and vampy stare. But make no mistake: by dialing up their otherwise elegant chamber pop with a little extra crunch and distortion, the players of Not for Radio came ready to rock out with the Daisy Chain crowd. It was during a performance of the new track “Comet,” which has only been recorded live thus far, that Zardoya bewitched fans into head-banging along with her. —SE
Olivia Rodrigo does duets with her idols
Sarah McLachlan, left, and Olivia Rodrigo perform during Daisy Chain Fields.
Rodrigo’s enduring virtue as a pop star is being a great fan first. The job requires commanding attention and devotion for yourself, but she’s never been shy about situating herself in the long arc of women who came before (and after) her, or just being moon-eyed to live inside her favorite songs with her heroes onstage. For her Daisy Chain Fields closing set, she dueted with generations of women that shaped her sense of what’s possible in music — Stevie Nicks for a gorgeous “Landslide,” and a surprise Alanis Morissette cameo for “Ironic” that felt like girl-gang karaoke night at its finest. She joined Lilith Fair founder Sarah McLachlan — a specific inspiration for this festival — for “Building a Mystery” and a deeply tender “Angel.” Even Rodrigo’s backing band, full of absolutely shredding women instrumentalists, played beside her on equal footing for exquisitely tasteful, post-punky revisions of songs across her three albums. The boys in the crowd got a brief chance to growl in the lead on “Expectations,” but here they were just allies — the headline act was Rodrigo’s talent framed as a gift received from other women, and given again to the young fans on the field. —AB
Race leader Tadej Pogacar has abandoned the Vuelta a Espana after crashing during stage eight.
The world champion, who was looking to complete a full set of Grand Tour victories, crashed with about 33km to go.
Pogacar, 27, was riding in the midst of the peloton when he came off his bike, hurting his left shoulder and cutting the left side of his face.
The Slovenian appeared to try to get back on his bike before sitting back down again.
He then walked unaided into an ambulance. It is the first time he has abandoned a Grand Tour.
The overwhelming favourite to win the three-week long race had started the stage three minutes and 50 seconds clear of Spaniard Enric Mas in second place.
In what was a chaotic race, another crash occurred in the finishing straight as France’s Bryan Coquard claimed his first stage win in a Grand Tour.
The 34-year-old edged Lidl-Trek rider Mads Pedersen in a photo finish.
“I think it has been 13 years, it has been a lot of work and I have finished second a lot of times,” Coquard told TNT Sports.
“I have not been in good positions in the first two sprints, I know I have good legs. Maybe I climb better now, I am fast again.”
Movistar rider Mas now leads the general classification by one minute and 11 seconds from Decathlon CMA CGM rider Felix Gall.
He is the first Spaniard to lead the Vuelta since Jesus Herrada in 2018 but a sombre Mas opted not to wear the red jersey when presented with it on the podium, instead holding it in front of him.
“It’s a real shame,” Mas said about Pogacar. “I hope he gets better quickly. We’ve still got a few races left and I hope he’ll be in good shape for them.”
Six-time Grand Tour winner Pogacar was on course to win all three of the sport’s biggest stage races, having already won five Tours de France and a Giro d’Italia.
Having become the joint most successful Tour de France champion of all time last month, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider is aiming to become the ninth rider to win all three Grand Tours.
Pogacar has also won almost all of the sport’s biggest races. In addition to his multiple stage race victories, the two-time road world champion has won 13 one-day monument races, including the Tour of Flanders (three times), Milan-San Remo (once), Il Lombardia (five times) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (four times).
In 2025, he recorded his best finish of second in the other monument – Paris-Roubaix.
Robotaxi reveal: Tesla's Cybercab takes the stage next week
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British heavyweight Moses Itauma pushed Filip Hrgovic off the stage before the Croat slapped him as chaos erupted at the weigh-in for Saturday’s world-title bout.
The pair will fight for the vacant IBF heavyweight title at London’s O2 Arena, with Itauma bidding to become the second-youngest heavyweight champion in history.
The 21-year-old had refused to engage with Hrgovic’s attempts to rile him during fight week but was in a fierce mood as the pair exchanged expletives during a charged face-off.
As Hrgovic turned to pose for photographs, Itauma shoved him in the back, sending the 34-year-old off the stage.
Hrgovic climbed back up, reached through security and slapped the Chatham fighter in the face before members of both teams became involved as security separated them.
“He pushed me first so I just gave it back. He started it,” Hrgovic said, before breaking off from the interview to stare down Itauma.
US rapper J.Cole has cancelled his show in northern California after one of his crew members tragically died in a major highway crash.
The No Role Modelz rapper was due to hit the stage at Sacramento’s Golden 1 centre but fans learned just hours before the show it would be cancelled due to the fatal accident.
“Following the tragic passing of a member of the touring crew in a trucking accident this morning, J. Cole’s performance at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento tonight, August 27, has been canceled,” J.Cole and tour operator Live Nation posted on their respective social media accounts.
“Our thoughts are with the crew member’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”
The crew member was driving a semi-truck on the Interstate 5 highway in Yolo County, about a 41 minute drive north-east of Sacramento, when the vehicle veered off the road and overturned, per the Sacramento Bee.
He died at scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The man was later identified as Jarlath Parkinson, 66, of Jackson, South Carolina by the Yolo County Coroner’s Office which said it did not believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident.
Parkinson had been driving the truck full of concert gear from J.Cole’s previous show in Seattle down to Sacramento.
J.Cole is currently on the road with his The Fall-Off tour which was scheduled to include 73 shows across the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Live Nation said that those with tickets to the Sacramento show should contact Ticketmaster for refunds.
Jermaine Lamarr Cole, better known as J. Cole, is a a German-born American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He is thought to be one of the most influential rappers of his generation.
Cole released his debut studio album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, in 2011 which debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200.
He has won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song, a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Album, three Soul Train Music Awards, and eight BET Hip Hop Awards.
THERE are a load of shows leaving the theatres soon that you will want to catch before they go – and with Sun Club you can get cheaper tickets.
If you sign up to Sun Club for £1.99 a month or just £9.99 for one year in our summer sale, you can get an extra 10 per cent off show tickets with London Theatre Direct.
Once you’ve signed up, head to the Sun Club Offers hub and find the London Theatre Direct offer, or simply click here.
Plus, you’ll get unlimited access to our award-winning articles, exclusive showbiz scoops, and a huge range of other offers and discounts too – from early access to book Hols From £9.50, free racing tickets to top UK racecourses and 2-4-1 tickets to theme parks.
With just days left of the school summer holidays and the days drawing in as we enter autumn, there couldn’t be a better activity than heading to the theatre.
Here are all the shows ending (and some exciting ones launching) in the coming months:
Read more on travel inspo
Hercules
Disney‘s Hercules is due to end on September 5.
The high-energy musical is based on Disney’s 1997 animated film, where Hercules sets off on a quest to prove himself as a hero.
It is a great option for Disney fans as well as families, and those who love a good singalong.
Grease: The Immersive Movie Musical
The popular immersive experience from Secret Cinema is set to end on September 13.
The interactive show allows people to fully immerse themselves in Rydell High, with actors roaming around and giant screens showing the film.
It is adult-only, but a load of fun with people getting dressed up and dancing around with actors as well as having fun on carnival attractions.
Brainiac Live!
The fun, family-friendly and interactive show Brainiac Live! is due to end on August 30.
Ideal for a last minute activity to head to with the kids before they go back to school, you can expect explosive experiments and messy stunts.
The Gruffalo
Another great family option is ending for the season soon – The Gruffalo, on September 6.
The show follows Julia Donaldson’s classic picture book.
The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Similarly, The Tiger Who Came to Tea will end on September 5 for the season.
The stage adaptation follows the story of Judith Kerr’s beloved tiger who loves a cuppa.
Now You See Me Live
Set to close on September 6, Now You See Me Live will have only run for five weeks.
Caroline McGuire, Head of Travel (Digital) recently visited and said: “This is as close to a Vegas-style magic show as you’re going to get in the UK, which is why it makes sense that the next stop on its world tour will in fact be the Nevada city.
“Without spoiling too much of the magic, the moment the escapologist is locked, handcuffed, upside down in a tank of water in a recreation of Houdini’s water torture stunt, is undoubtedly a highlight of the show.”
Death Note The Musical
Death Note The Musical will end on September 12 at the Barbican Theatre.
The show is based on the famous Japanese manga series.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (two parts)
The two parts of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will soon become one continuous and shortened show.
The two-part show will end on September 20 before being replaced by the reimagined one part show on October 9.
The show follows Harry’s son Albus Severus Potter who struggles with the weight of his family’s legacy.
The Comedy About Spies
The Comedy About Spies stage show is set to end on September 26.
The show is set in a 1961 London hotel where a rogue British agent steals plans for a top-secret weapon.
Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Stranger Things: The First Shadow is set to end on December 27.
The show acts as a prequel to the famous Netflix series.
10 Things I Hate About You
Dates are yet to be set but a 10 Things I Hate About You stage adaption has been announced.
The show will follow the story of the 1999 rom-com but will now feature music by Carly Rae Jepson and a book by Lena Dunham.
It will premiere on Broadway before moving to the West End.
The Greatest Showman
Set to launch in the spring and replace Hercules is Disney’s The Greatest Showman.
Based on the 2017 film by the same name, the stage adaptation will feature the film’s original songs.
High School Musical
Opening on October 12 in time for the film’s 20th anniversary is High School Musical.
The story follows Troy and Gabriella as they disrupt social cliques at East High.
The production is set to feature McFly’s Harry Judd as Coach Bolton and original film cast member Kaycee Stroh as Ms Darbus.
Pirates of the Caribbean
Opening on February 26, 2027, Secret Cinema will have their first permanent theatre in London on the Greenwich Peninsula.
And the show will be Pirates of the Caribbean: The Immersive Adventure.
Visitors can expect a walkthrough stage as well as an interactive experience.
Billy Elliot The Musical
Set to open on February 12, 2027, Billy Elliot is returning to the West End.
Revived by Elton John, the show follows a young boy in the 1980s in a Northern English mining community, who discovers he has a talent for ballet.
Dirty Dancing
Opening on October 16, Dirty Dancing will be London’s first show at the Capital Theatre.
The show will be an intimate production set at Kellerman’s 1963 resort with live music and lots of dancing.
Rent
Opening on September 26, 2026 is Rent.
The production is a 30th-anniversary West End revival of Jonathan Larson’s rock musical, which will star Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo as Mark.
The show follows a year in the life of a group of young artists and musicians in Manhattan’s East Village coping with HIV/AIDS, love, loss and community.
The Jungle Book
Launching on November 13, the National Theatre will be running a stage adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.
The show will be set in the mangroves of the Sundarbans.
It is not a Disney musical, but instead a more serious show with original music and live puppetry.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (one part)
Launching on October 9, will be the new stage format of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, which will be one part not two.
It follows the same story as the two-part show, just reimagined and condensed into one performance.
Offer is open to UK residents aged 18+ only. Save an additional 10 per cent off tickets. Offer ends at 23:59pm on Thursday, December 31, 2026. Full T&Cs apply, see here.
Jack Tucker descends from the rafters inside L.A.’s Montalbán Theatre like a kamikaze crash landing into his big moment. He’s flanked by fountain fireworks while a buff guitarist with a blond mullet and glittery spandex shorts wails on guitar to the tune of Lenny Kravitz’s cover of “American Woman.” With the garish gusto of a WWE wrestler, Tucker’s entrance as the ringleader of the show “Stamptown” electrifies the stage.
But the show truly starts when it falls apart with technical mishaps. Everything breaks, guns go off, an illusionist loses his clothes and jumps fully nude into the crowd — all within the first five minutes.
It’s a chaotic comedy world created by classically trained performers, including clowns, who’ve studied the art of physical humor and shredded the rule book. For more than 10 years the Stamptown troupe led by Tucker, the alter ego of comedian Zach Zucker, has created an insane asylum on stage — from Elysian Theater in Echo Park to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. The show’s comedy thrives on failure, interruption and never actually getting to the “script.” This week the madness leaps from the stage to the screen as Stamptown premieres its first Netflix special Tuesday.
“This is a lot of people’s first time being exposed to this,” Zucker said, cracking a mischievous smile while sitting in a red velvet chair inside the empty Elysian Theater where his crew has performed “Stamptown” for years. “I have seen a man light his penis on fire 45 times in my show. I forget that when it comes to comedy, most people are used to seeing a person with one microphone stand still and talk.”
Filmed over the course of three performances during Netflix Is a Joke Fest in May, the spliced together “Stamptown” special directed by Rachel Lee Goldenberg and edited by show co-creator Dylan Woodley captures the chaos of clowning mixed with a cerebral roast of traditional comedy and plenty of playful danger. The result isn’t a piece of art but rather “a pile of art,” Zucker said.
“Our strength is being a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ type of performance, but if I really had to boil it down, it’s a modern day vaudevillian variety show that features any and all alternative performances … our ethos is, ‘against all odds, this show works,’ ” Zucker said.
Zach Zucker tosses props in the air inside the Elysian Theater.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
On a recent afternoon, the lanky, mustachioed Zucker, wearing a T-shirt, ballcap and small hoop earrings, bears little resemblance to his comic alter ego who sports a tattered suit with gag props stuffed in every pocket. In real life, the New York native is a former baseball and basketball star athlete who went down an extremely different path to become “a bisexual traveling clown.” After enrolling in what he assumed would be an easy acting class during his senior year of high school, Zucker became obsessed with improv and comedy. His teacher advised him to check out the renowned improv troupe Second City. So he flew to Chicago to see the show “Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies” featuring Tim Robinson, Sam Richardson, Timothy Edward Mason and more. “It changed my life,” he said.
After taking up comedy classes and street performances on the East Coast, Zucker quickly transitioned to working in theater and eventually moved to L.A. at 18 to pursue comedy, interning at Upright Citizens Brigade. He scrubbed toilets in exchange for free improv classes. It was at UCB where he first crossed paths with celebrated clown teacher Philippe Gaulier, whose former students include Sacha Baron Cohen, Rachel Weisz and Geoffrey Rush. The wily, frizzy-haired Frenchman with red-framed spectacles taught Zucker everything he knows about clowning.
“Our strength is being a ‘you gotta see it to believe it’ type of performance, but if I really had to boil it down, it’s a modern day vaudevillian variety show that features any and all alternative performances … our ethos is, ‘against all odds, this show works,’” Zach Zucker said.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
“Philippe is by far my greatest influence,” Zucker said. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him or that I’m not actively implementing all the lessons he taught me as a man and as an artist.”
One of those lessons became the ethos of “Stamptown”: “If you’re having fun, maybe we like you. If you’re not having fun, for sure we hate you.”
Inspired by his wisdom, Zucker moved to France for two years to study with Gaulier. It was there that he met his future “Stamptown” collaborator Jonny Woolley, a Canadian performer who became the show’s sound tech, adding to the menagerie of aural mayhem through sound effects that punctuate the show’s every move.
“There’s a lot of different ways of approaching clowning, but ultimately, for us, it’s more of a philosophical approach to making art than it is like a rigorous set of rules or styles. It’s just being a lovable idiot,” Woolley said.
The name “Stamptown” is a tribute to the place where they learned their artform: the town of Estampes (which loosely translates to “Stamp”) in France where they studied with Gaulier, who died this year before the special was filmed.
Though he‘s known for his offbeat humor, Zucker’s brain is firing on a perpetual metronome. He’s snapping his fingers incessantly during our interview while describing the comedic timing of each show, which grooves like a jazz band on stage.
”Sometimes there’s a few different rhythms that I’m balancing at once. I can really zone in on what is the most fruitful at the moment while still keeping these other balls in the air,” he said. “Thankfully we’re not always pushing a message. Sometimes it is just about entertaining the crowd at all costs.”
Before “Stamptown,” Zucker was performing with Norwegian friend and fellow clown Viggo Venn as “Zach & Viggo,” a side act in the original variety show Zucker started with his friends in 2017 in Melbourne called “Midnight Madness” that eventually turned into “Stamptown.”
Working with Venn, Woolley and Woodley, Zucker devised the show to include a rotating cast of clowns, and comedic performers from around the world, including L.A. Staples in the local clown community include the slapstick of clown kingpin Chad Damiani playing a janitor, comedic actor Natalie Palamides as a comedy nepo fetus birthed by Riki Lindhome of “Garfunkel and Oates” and the riotously robotic gyrations of Courtney Pauroso as fembot temptress Vanessa 5000.
“‘Stamptown’ is extraordinary; it’s finely calculated nonsense,” said actor Neil Patrick Harris, a longtime friend and supporter of Zucker who appears on the Netflix special, in a statement to The Times. “Each performance is unique — stand-ups colliding with circus artists, and improvisers swapping talents and fluids, even the stagehands’ utter chaos and running gags, a ridiculous fever dream … it’s absurdly genius.”
The international performers who have become part of the “Stamptown” universe run the gamut from jugglers to steel drum players to acrobats to pianists. Trans comedian Jordan Gray is extremely unafraid to bare it all, including her soul, when behind the piano. The physicality of the performances goes beyond regional references and punchlines that might get some laughs in one country but not in others. Venn says it’s clear that at their core people tend to share the same sense of humor.
“It was fascinating to us to see that in Australia and France and England and the U.S., they really laugh at the same things if it’s like a deeply human kind of failure,” Venn said. “That’s the beauty of this show.”
Zach Zucker sits inside the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles.
(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)
A tangled web of masterfully timed sound effects has unintentionally become the heartbeat of “Stamptown” . With Woolley now living full time in London, the duties for the U.S. shows were recently passed down to fellow performer Jeremy Elder, who did the sounds for the Netflix special tapings. He says the show is at its best when they throw out the game plan for the night, even while filming for Netflix.
“I think it’s as soon as we went off script, the audience could feel that. In the final product, we planned so much, but once you’re in the room with people it’s a very clown-like sentiment to just roll with what the audience is feeling,” Elder said.
While traditional stand-up is Netflix’s bread and butter for comedy programming, this form of comedy is mostly a target for mockery in “Stamptown” to show how limiting it is compared with the physical comedy of clowning. The one caveat, Zucker says — a clown is by far the most embarrassing brand of comedian you can be.
“It’s not cool, you don’t do this to be cool,” he said, laughing. “The whole point is that with all the love and fantasy and pleasure of your life, you have to step in a bucket of s— over and over and over and enjoy it. ‘Isn’t it awesome how I humiliate myself for you?’ And you embrace it.”
gk-6mt/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Boeing (BA) engineers and technical workers rejected the company’s four-year contract offer and voted in favor of a strike authorization, union officials said Friday.
The 17,000 members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace voted overwhelmingly to give its negotiating
Humanoid robots are at the forefront of China’s race for technological supremacy at Beijing’s World Robot Conference. Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu reports on how Chinese firms are racing US rivals as Beijing bets on humanoid robots to boost productivity.
Published On 20 Aug 202620 Aug 2026
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England women’s hopes of success at the FIH Hockey World Cup ended at the group stage after a 0-0 draw with India.
David Ralph’s side finish third in Pool D on four points, with two teams moving forward to the next round, and will now play in a classification phase that sees teams placed from 9th to 16th.
England won their opening match 4-0 against South Africa on Sunday but lost to China two days later, conceding four before Tess Howard and Sophie Hamilton reduced the deficit.
The national side have not challenged in tournaments since winning Commonwealth gold in 2022, finishing fourth in the 2023 EuroHockey Nations Championship, and fifth last year.
Teams from England and Great Britain have finished no higher than sixth in the FIH Pro League since a third place in 2020-21, while Great Britain also finished eighth at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile England’s men are through to the second stage of the men’s World Cup, topping Pool D with three wins out of three.
They defeated Pakistan 4-1 and India 4-2 prior to beating Wales 8-2 in their final group stage match on Wednesday.
They move in a second stage pool with India, with their 4-2 win carried forward, and will face two qualifiers from Pool A on Saturday and Monday as they attempt to reach the semi-finals.
England women play Chile on Friday and Japan on Sunday in their classification pool, with both World Cups being held in Wavre in Belgium and Amstelveen in the Netherlands.
