Dan Brown is best known for his bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code which released in 2003. He is an American author whose works are based on thriller action.His novels consist of the themes of cryptography,keys,codes,symbols,ambigrams and conspiracy theories etc.With just seven books in stores, he has sold 200 million copies which makes him one of the highest selling author of all times. The Robert Langdon series is currently the seventh highest selling series of all time.He was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 influential people in the world in 2005.

CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION

Daniel Brown was born on June,22 1964 in Exeter,New Hampshire U.S. He was brought up in the same town.He studied in Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from there too. His father Richard G. Brown was a Mathematics teacher in the same academy until 1997.
Both of his parents were singers and musicians.

Since his childhood, Brown had keen interest in ciphers,clues and codes.He together with his siblings used to solve anagrams and puzzles to hunt for the gifts on special occasions.
He grew up surrounded by paradoxical philosophies of science and religion.These themes eventually formed the backdrop of his novels.After graduating from Phillips Exeter, Brown attended Amherst College, where he was a member of Psi Upsilon fraternity.He played Squash,singer in Glee Club. He enrolled in the art history course at University of Seville in 1985.

SINGER AND SONG-WRITER

After graduation he tried his hands in the music industry.He self-produced a children cassette SynthAnimals.He later produced his own recode label Dalliance.He spent several years attempting to establish himself as a singer-songwriter and pianist with only marginal success.

These endeavors however lead him to live in Los Angeles where he taught Spanish at Beverly Hills Preparatory School to supplement his income and where he also met Blythe Newlon.This lady,twelve years his senior,was then employed as Artistic Director of the National Academy of Songwriters.As their relationship developed Blythe used her influence in attempts to further Dan Brown’s music career.

In 1993 he decided to return to the New Hampshire and secured a teaching job in English at Phillips Exeter Academy, Blythe accompanied him.They married in 1997, at Pea Porridge Pond, near Conway, New Hampshire . In 1994 Brown released a CD titled Angels & Demons. Its artwork was the same ambigram by artist John Langdon which he later used for the novel Angels and Demons.

CHRONOLOGY OF NOVELS

In 1993,Brown read Sidney Sheldon’s novel ‘The Doomsday Conspiracy’ during holiday in Tahiti which inspired him to become writer of thrillers. In 1995 Brown and Blythe wrote under the pseudonym Danielle Brown ‘187 Men to Avoid : A guide for the romantically frustrated woman’.
In 1998, Digital Fortess was published.Set within the clandestine National Security Agencies,the novel explores the fine line between civilian privacy and national security.
In 2000,Angels and Demons was released,the first one to feature Harvard symbology expert Robert Langdon. The fast-paced thriller follows Langdon’s attempts to protect the Vatican from the Illuminati, a secret society formed during the Renaissance that opposed the Roman Catholic Church. Although the novel received positive reviews, it failed to catch on with readers.
In 2001. Deception point was released centered on issues of morality,politics,national security and classified technology.
In 2003, Brown returned to Langdon with The Da Vinci Code, a thriller that centres on art history, Christianity’s origins, and arcane theories.
In 2009,The Lost Symbol was released which featured Freemasons.
In 2013, Inferno was published, which saw Langdon following clues related to Dante’s poem The Divine Comedy in an efforts to stop release of a plague.

MOVIE DEPICTIONS

In 2006, A movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was released by Columbia Pictures which was based on Brown’s novel. The movie starred Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon,it was directed by Ron Howard.
In May 2009, the next film ‘Angels & Demons’ was released with Tom Hanks and Ron Howard returning as an actor and director respectively.
Filmmakers are currently working on the movie adaption of ‘The Lost Symbol’.

He is on twitter with the username @AuthorDanBrown and has 96.1K followers.
He is on facebook with his own name.

CONTROVERSIES

In 2005, a lawsuit was filed by an author Lewis Perdue for similarities between The Da Vinci Code and his novels ‘The Da Vinci Legacy’ and ‘Daughter of God’.
In April 2006 Brown won a case of copyright case filed against him by the authors Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh for stealing the ideas from their work ‘Holy Blood Holy Grail’ for his The Da Vinci Code.

ASSETS

MANSION-

Brown lives with his wife in a mansion of whooping price $10 million in New Hampshire.He bought this house after the great success of The Da Vinci Code.His house features secret passageways, hidden alcoves, and a library designed to hold a copy of each of his titles which have been published in 52 languages.

PHILNTHROPY

Dan Brown and his siblings donated $2.2 million to the Phillips Exeter Academy in 2004 establishing the “Richard G. Brown Technology Endowment”, to help “provide computers and high-tech equipment for students in need” to honor their father, who had taught there for 35 years.
Brown along with his wife supports New Hampshire Charitable Foundation.
In April 2011, Brown and his wife together established Dan ’86 and Blythe scholarship fund so as to provide financial support to the students.

QUOTES

• Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of Gods & Goddesses. Today, we live in a world solely of gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power.
• I consider myself a student of many religions. The more I learn, the more questions I have. For me, the spiritual quest will be a life-long work.
• That is the definition of faith – acceptance of that which we imagine to be true, that which we cannot prove.
• “Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer.”
• “Science and religion are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand.”
• “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.”

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Profession: Actor, Director, Producer

The guy behind the successful, Oscar winning movie, A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard has been into cinema and art all his life, but never graduated from college as he chose to drop out of School of Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. Howard went on to become one of the most successful directors in Hollywood with a multitude of smash hits among his credits, including Splash, Cocoon, Willow, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Ransom, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Cinderella Man.

Hall of fame

Taking his parents’ path, with mother Jean Speegle Howard being an actress and father, Rance Howard who was a director, writer and an actor, Ron Howard started out his career by taking up small roles, his first role being the film The Journey, June Allyson’s CBS series The DuPont Show with June Allyson, Twilight Zone and other small roles on the television.

In 1960, he was cat as Opie taylor in hit show The Andy Griffith Show, in which he portrayed the son of the title character for all eight seasons of the show. This show was filmed in a house that was rented by his parents on the block south of the Desilu Studios, the place where Ron was tutored. The Andy Griffith Show made him familiar with the audience and gave him the much needed name and fame.

Howard made his directorial debut with the 1977 comedy Grand Theft Auto which was an instant hit with the audience, and led him to carve his niche in Hollywood as a promising director. He then took up directing seriously and went on to direct Happy Days in 1980 after which came a series of blockbuster movies that made him one of the best directors that Hollywood has seen. He had his big break in 1982 with the film, Night Shift. His best films include Cocoon, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and of course A Beautiful Mind in the year 2001. Howard later won the Academy Award for Best Director with A Beautiful Mind. In 2003, Howard was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Another cool thing about him is that a newly discovered asteroid was named after him, Asteroid 12561 Howard.  He also directed The Da Vinci Code in the year 2006, which earned him more than $758 million at the box office. In 2013, Howard was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. He was even reported to corporate with Brian Gazer to bring Friday Night Lights back to the big screen.

He is probably one of the very directors who can boast of directing 8 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Don Ameche, Dianne Wiest, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Giamatti, and Frank Langella. Ameche and Connelly won Oscars for their performances in one of Howard’s movies.

Let’s get to the money

His directorial talent has surely earned him more than just a few extra bucks. His films have always blown the box office by surprises and more and more money. Here’s list of the estimated total gross of his big flicks:

Angels & Demons- $133,375,846

Rush- $26,947,62

The Da Vinci Code- $217,536,138

A Beautiful Mind- $10,000,000

The Dilemma- $10,000,000

Cinderella Man- $61,649,911

Backdraft- $77,868,585

Apollo 13- $172,071,312

Cocoon- $76,113,124

Parenthood-$100,047,830

$10 million: The Dilemma (Howard’s fee for directing Vince Vaughn comedy)
$2.5 million: The Dilemma (joint fee for producing)
$2.5 million: Cowboys & Aliens (joint fee for producing)

Apart from his directorial ventures, he also happens do some business of his own. He owes his fortune to smart stock investments, substantial property holdings, lucrative endorsement deals with Cover Girl cosmetics. He also owns several restaurants (the Fat Howard Burger chain) in Washington, a Football Team (The Duncan Angels), has launched his own brand of Vodka (Pure Wonderhoward – US), and is tackling the juniors market with a top-selling perfume (With Love from Ron) and a fashion line called ‘Ron Howard Seduction.’ He started two production companies – Major H Productions (which ran until 1985) and then, in 1985, Howard started in 1986 as executive producer with producer Brian Grazer. Presently, he is the co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment, a film and TV production company responsible for such work as Friday Night Lights, 8 Mile and the popular Arrested Development. Though it has a mere 40 employees it turned a whopping revenue of $3.8 million in the fiscal year ending September 2008. Also, the word is around that business partners, Brain Grazer and Ron Howard want to set up a marketing consultancy and digital studio to help companies market their brands.

With all this wealth to his, he hardly seems overwhelmed, for he once said that this is all a number game and advised people not get emotionally involved in these things. Now, that’s one heck of a statement.

Personal Life: I keep to myself

Howard married his high-school sweetheart and they have four children,  two who are actors. His personal life may not be all fun, but here’s a fun fact to read: all of Howard’s four children are named after the places they were conceived: Bryce Dallas in Dallas, Texas, Paige Carlyle and Jocelyn Carlyle at the Hotel Carlyle in New York City, and Reed Cross after a specific road, according to Bryce Dallas Howard. His younger brother is none other than the talented, Clint Howard.

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