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97-455: Fleming describes Largo as a ruthless Neapolitan black marketeer and fence who moved to riskier and more profitable ventures on the international crime scene after five years smuggling from Tangiers and five years of masterminding big jewel robberies on the French Riviera . He is supposedly the last survivor of a once famous Roman family whose legacy he inherited. Largo eventually became

194-446: A feature film . He was a regular in the BBC /Universal World War II prisoner-of-war drama Colditz (1972–1974) for much of its run. He reunited with McQueen, along with Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway , in the disaster film The Towering Inferno released in the same year. It was a massive hit, although Wagner's part was relatively small. By the mid-1970s, Wagner's television career

291-432: A front business that is not illegal. Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows It Takes a Thief (1968–1970), Switch (1975–1978), and Hart to Hart (1979–1984). He later had recurring roles on Two and a Half Men (2007–2008) and NCIS (2010–2019). In films, Wagner is known for his role as Number 2 in

388-431: A "tax gap" of $ 450–600 billion. The "unrecorded economy" circumvents the institutional rules that define the reporting requirements of government statistical agencies. A summary measure of the unrecorded economy is the amount of unrecorded income, namely the amount of income that should (under existing rules and conventions) be recorded in national accounting systems (e.g., National Income and Product Accounts ) but

485-403: A Clint Eastwood, grizzled, down-and-out guy, but there aren't many scripts like that... What has been projected for me is an international quality that can take me anywhere and get me into all kind of involvements; to do otherwise would mean a character role." Wagner appeared in a TV movie with Audrey Hepburn , Love Among Thieves (1987) and in a miniseries with Jaclyn Smith , Windmills of

582-403: A Thief and Hart to Hart ", Robert Glenister ( Hustle ' s fixer , Ash Morgan ) commented that "to have one of the icons of that period involved is a great bonus for all of us". Wagner also played the pivotal role of President James Garfield in the comedy/horror film Netherbeast Incorporated (2007). The role was written with Wagner in mind. He had a recurring role of a rich suitor to

679-446: A black market exists to supply them. Despite law enforcement efforts to intercept them, demand remains high, providing a large profit motive for organized criminal groups to keep drugs supplied. The United Nations has reported that the retail market value of illegal drugs is $ 502 billion. Although law enforcement agencies intercept a fraction of drug traffickers and incarcerate thousands of wholesale and retail sellers and users,

776-497: A black market. Money may be exchangeable for a differing amount of the same currency if it has been acquired illegally and needs to be laundered before the money can be used. Counterfeit money may be sold for a lesser amount of genuine currency. The rate of exchange between a local and foreign currency may be subject to a black market, often described as a " parallel exchange rate " or similar terms. This may happen for one or more of several reasons: A government may officially set

873-558: A commercial and critical disappointment despite being directed by Vittorio de Sica and co-starring Sophia Loren . Considerably more popular was The Pink Panther (1963), a massive hit, although Wagner's part was very much in support to those of David Niven , Capucine , Peter Sellers , and Claudia Cardinale . It was directed by Blake Edwards , who wanted Wagner for the lead in The Great Race (1965), but Jack L. Warner overruled him. His return to America found him playing in

970-472: A foreign currency for the local currency. The U.S. dollar is viewed as a relatively stable and safe currency and is often used abroad as a second currency. In 2012, US$ 340 billion, roughly 37 percent of all U.S. currency, was believed to be circulating abroad. The most recent study of the amount of currency held overseas suggests that only 25 percent of U.S. currency was held abroad in 2014. The widespread substitution of U.S. currency for local currency

1067-591: A four-year romantic relationship with Barbara Stanwyck after they acted together in the movie Titanic (1953). According to Wagner, because of their age difference—he was 22, she was 45—they kept the affair secret to avoid damaging their careers. He is also rumored to have had affairs with men, although Wagner identifies as heterosexual . In 1956, when he was 26 years old, Wagner became involved with 18-year-old actress Natalie Wood . They were married on December 28, 1957, in Scottsdale, Arizona . At some point during

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1164-403: A low-profit item for the rum-runners, and they moved on to smuggling Canadian whisky , French champagne , and English gin to major cities like New York City and Boston , where prices ran high. It was said that some ships carried $ 200,000 (roughly equivalent to US$ 4.5 million in 2022 ) in contraband in a single run. The United Kingdom has some of the highest taxes on tobacco products in

1261-666: A number of Fox contractees in a World War II drama, In Love and War (1958). After a cameo in Mardi Gras (1958), Wagner supported Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds in Say One for Me (1959). Trying to kick-start his career, Wagner appeared with his then-wife Natalie Wood (they married in 1957) in All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), made for MGM. In January 1961, Wagner and Wood formed their own company, Rona Productions, named after

1358-400: A person or group (e.g., a criminal gang) indicates to a store owner that they could protect her/his store from potential damage, damage that the same person or group would otherwise inflict, while the correlation of threat and protection may be more or less deniably veiled, distinguishing it from the more direct act of extortion . Racketeering is often associated with organized crime . The term

1455-522: A premium to acquire it. U.S. currency is viewed as a relatively stable store of value and, since it does not leave a paper trail, it is also a convenient medium of exchange for both illegal transactions and for unreported income both in the U.S. and abroad. More recently cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been used as a medium of exchange in black market transactions. Cryptocurrencies are sometimes favored over centralized currency due to their pseudonymous nature and their ability to be traded over

1552-401: A problem, such as for a problem that does not actually exist or that would not otherwise exist if the racket did not exist. Conducting a racket is called racketeering. The potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it, although that fact may be concealed, with the intent to engender continual patronage for the racketeer. An archetype is the protection racket , wherein

1649-718: A red dye in the UK, a green dye in Ireland). The saving is attractive enough to make for a black market in agricultural diesel, which was estimated in 2007 to cost the UK £350 million annually in lost tax. In countries including India and Nepal, the price of fuel is set by the government, and it is illegal to sell the fuel at a higher price. During the petrol crisis in Nepal, black marketing in fuel became common, especially during mass petrol shortage. At times, people queued for hours or even overnight to get fuel. Petrol pump operators were alleged to hoard

1746-852: A series of TV movies. Wagner's film career received a boost after his role in the Austin Powers series of spy spoofs starring Mike Myers . Wagner played Dr. Evil 's henchman Number 2 in all three films: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997), Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). He also had small roles in Wild Things (1998), Crazy in Alabama (1999), Play It to

1843-434: A small role in some all-star Universal films, Midway (1976) and The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979). Wagner's third successful series was Hart to Hart , which co-starred Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander and was broadcast on ABC-TV from 1979 to 1984. No one else was seriously considered for the role. George Hamilton had a high-profile at the time and was suggested, but producer Aaron Spelling said that if he

1940-580: A spokesman for the Guardian First Funding Group, also a reverse mortgage lender. In June 2011, Guardian First Funding was acquired by Urban Financial Group, who continued to use Wagner as their spokesperson. In 2007, Wagner had a role in the BBC/AMC series Hustle . In season four's premiere, Wagner played a crooked Texan being taken for half a million dollars. As Wagner is considered "a suave icon of American caper television, including It Takes

2037-659: A traveling salesman who worked for the Ford Motor Company . He had one older sister, Mary Scott (1926–2023). Wagner's mother came from La Crosse, Wisconsin . Her parents were both immigrants from Norway, who married in La Crosse in 1887. Wagner's father was a native of Kalamazoo, Michigan . His parents were from Germany. The family moved to Bel-Air , an upscale area of Los Angeles, in 1937. Wagner became interested in acting, and after an unsuccessful screen test directed by Fred Zinnemann for his film Teresa (1951),

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2134-411: Is rent control and subsidized affordable housing , which provide housing below the market cost, there may be a black market for housing rentals. For instance, in the UK there is illegal subletting of social housing homes where the tenant illegally rents out the government-subsidized home at a higher rent. In Sweden, rental contracts with regulated rent can be bought on the black market, either from

2231-585: Is betraying him. One of Largo's henchmen, Ladislav Kutze, helps Domino get free, allowing Domino to do what she wanted Bond to do: kill Largo. When Largo gets the upper hand over Bond, Domino shoots him in the back with a spear gun . Largo dies and collapses onto the controls of the Disco Volante , jamming them. Bond, Domino, and Kutze all evacuate the Disco Volante seconds before the ship collides with rocks and explodes. Largo's scheme in Thunderball involves

2328-416: Is difficult. Low-tax states are generally the major tobacco producers, and have come under criticism for their reluctance to increase taxes. North Carolina eventually agreed to raise its taxes from 5 cents to 35 cents per pack of 20 cigarettes, although this remains far below the national average. As of 2010 , South Carolina has refused to follow suit and raise taxes from seven cents per pack (the lowest in

2425-638: Is held over in Never Say Never Again . As in Thunderball , the scheme involves obtaining two nuclear warheads, this time stealing them directly from a United States Air Force base in the UK and holding the world hostage. In the novel, he is depicted as a large, muscular, olive-skinned, powerful man exuding animal charm, with the profile of a Roman emperor, hooked nose, long sideburns and hairy hands which are likened to crawling tarantulas. Indeed, Emilio Largo's surname means "play slowly and broadly". Adolfo Celi strongly resembles his literary counterpart in

2522-721: Is his estate, called Palmyra, which houses a giant swimming pool filled with sharks; Bond is thrown into this pool but he is able to escape. The second is Largo's private yacht, the Disco Volante . The yacht is a hydrofoil craft purchased with SPECTRE funds for £ 200,000. The craft plays a pivotal role in the seizure and transportation of the two nuclear weapons . To Largo, failure is punishable by death. When Quist, one of Largo's henchmen, fails to kill Bond, Largo has him thrown into his pool of sharks. Largo also has little consideration even for those closest to him, going so far as to torture his own mistress, Domino , when he finds out she

2619-488: Is illegal or highly regulated in some countries. This demonstrates the underground economy, because of consistent high demand from customers, relatively high pay, but labor-intensive and low-skilled work, which attracts a continual supply of workers. While prostitution exists in every country, studies show that it tends to flourish more in poorer countries, and in areas with large numbers of unattached men, such as around military bases. For instance, an empirical study showed that

2716-567: Is known as de facto dollarisation , and has been observed in transition countries such as Cambodia and in some Latin American countries. Some countries, such as Ecuador, abandoned their local currency and used U.S. dollars, essentially for this reason, a process known as de jure dollarization (see also the example of the Ghanaian cedi from the 1970s and 1980s). If foreign currency is difficult or illegal for local citizens to acquire, they will pay

2813-494: Is no single underground economy; there are many. These underground economies are omnipresent, existing in market-oriented as well as in centrally planned nations, be they developed or developing. Those engaged in underground activities circumvent, escape, or are excluded from the institutional system of rules, rights, regulations, and enforcement penalties that govern formal agents engaged in production and exchange. Different types of underground activities are distinguished according to

2910-401: Is not. Unrecorded income is a particular problem in transition countries that switched from a socialist accounting system to UN standard national accounting . New methods have been proposed for estimating the size of the unrecorded (non-observed) economy. However little consensus exists on the size of the unreported economies of transitional countries. The " informal economy " circumvents

3007-487: Is often associated with money laundering , a process used to conceal the illegitimate source of the money. Because of the clandestine nature of the black economy, it is not possible to determine its size and scope. The literature on the black market has not established a common terminology and has instead offered many synonyms including subterranean, hidden, grey , shadow, informal, clandestine, illegal, unobserved, unreported, unrecorded, second, parallel, and black. There

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3104-428: Is purchased on the black market". Smuggling one truckload of cigarettes from a low-tax U.S. state to a high-tax state can result in a profit of up to $ 3 million. Because traffic crossing U.S. state borders is not usually stopped or inspected to the same extent as happens at the country's international borders, interdicting this sort of smuggling (especially without causing major disruption to interstate commerce)

3201-422: Is traded. Goods and services acquired illegally and/or transacted for in an illegal manner may exchange above or below the price of legal market transactions: No government, no global nonprofit, no multinational enterprise can seriously claim to be able to replace the 1.8 billion jobs created by the economic underground. In truth, the best hope for growth in most emerging economies lies in the shadows. Even when

3298-473: The Austin Powers films. Black market A black market , underground economy , shadow market or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is not compliant with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the set of goods and services whose production and distribution are prohibited or restricted by law, non-compliance with

3395-450: The Austin Powers trilogy of films (1997, 1999, 2002), as well as for Prince Valiant (1954), A Kiss Before Dying (1956), The Pink Panther (1963), Harper (1966), The Towering Inferno (1974) and The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979). Wagner was born in Detroit, to Thelma Hazel Alvera (née Boe; 1898–1993), a former telephone operator, and Robert John Wagner Sr (1890–1964),

3492-570: The Internet . Within the European single market , it is legal for a person or business to buy fuel in one EU state for use in a vehicle in another, as well as a small amount of fuel in a container, but as with other goods, taxes (such as VAT ) will generally be payable by the final customer at the physical place of making the purchase. When fuel is transported across borders for resale, such taxes can often be recovered and then relevant taxes are payable in

3589-551: The PBS documentary Prohibition , the term "bootlegging" was popularized when thousands of city dwellers would sell liquor from flasks they kept in their bootleg all across major cities and rural areas. The term "rum-running" most likely originated at the start of Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933), when ships from Bimini in the western Bahamas transported cheap Caribbean rum to Florida speakeasies . Rum's cheapness made it

3686-408: The government , or included in the gross national product (GNP), unlike the formal economy. In developed countries, the informal sector is characterized by unreported employment . This is hidden from the state for tax, social security, or labour law purposes but is legal in other aspects. The term black market can also be used in reference to a specific part of the economy in which contraband

3783-535: The Bone (2000), Becoming Dick (2001) and Sol Goode (2001). Wagner became the host of Fox Movie Channel 's Hour of Stars , featuring original television episodes of The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955), a series which he had appeared on in his early days with the studio. In 2005, he became the television spokesman for the Senior Lending Network, a reverse mortgage lender and in 2010 he began serving as

3880-497: The Game (1970). Wagner's friend and agent Albert Broccoli suggested that he audition to play James Bond , but he decided it was not right for him. Wagner appeared in the series pilot, City Beneath the Sea (1971), that was not picked up. The following year, he produced and cast himself opposite Bette Davis in the made-for-TV film Madame Sin , which was theatrically released overseas as

3977-551: The Gods (1988). He and St. John worked with Pierce Brosnan in the miniseries remake of Around the World in 80 Days (1989). For Tom Mankiewicz he played a supporting part in Delirious (1991). More widely seen was Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), where Wagner played a producer. Wagner played Love Letters on stage with Stefanie Powers. They also reprised their Hart characters in

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4074-401: The U.S. if aged less than 60 days. Rum-running , or bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting ( smuggling ) alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling is usually done to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws. The term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water; bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land. According to

4171-551: The USA). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), illegal organ trade occurs when organs are removed from the body for the purpose of commercial transactions. The WHO justifies its stance on the issue by stating, "Payment for... organs is likely to take unfair advantage of the poorest and most vulnerable groups, undermines altruistic donation and leads to profiteering and human trafficking." Despite prohibitions, it

4268-598: The act of theft to be in the profits forgone to the pirates. However, this makes the unsubstantiated assumption that the pirates would have bought the copyrighted material if it had not been available through file sharing or other means. Copyright holders also say that they did work creating their copyrighted material and they wish to get compensated for their work. No other system than copyright has been found to compensate artists and other creators for their work, and many artists do not have an alternative source of income or another job. Many artists and film producers have accepted

4365-523: The black market include consumer-to-consumer online auction websites and private pages on social media websites. In black market venues in Cambodia, sex toys have been seized alongside aphrodisiac products. It has been suggested that if efforts in North America to ban realistic-looking sexbots succeed, it may result in a black market. People engaged in the black market may run their business hidden behind

4462-423: The costs of, and is excluded from the benefits and rights incorporated in, the laws and administrative rules covering property relationships, commercial licensing, labor contracts, torts, financial credit, and social security systems. A summary measure of the informal economy is the income generated by economic agents that operate informally. The informal sector is part of an economy that is not taxed , monitored by

4559-610: The country of sale, but there are no customs checks on borders between countries within the European Union Customs Union . Differences in tax rates can thus lead to opportunities for arbitrage even when prices before tax are equal, in a form that is illegal as a form of tax evasion . For example, between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland , there has often been a black market for petrol and diesel . The direction of smuggling can change depending on variation in

4656-488: The courts, as the operations are distributed and widespread, traversing national borders and thus legal systems. Since digital information can be duplicated repeatedly with no loss of quality, and passed on electronically at little to no cost, the effective underground market value of media is zero, differentiating it from nearly all other forms of underground economic activity. The issue is compounded by widespread indifference to enforcing copyright law, both with governments and

4753-633: The current tenant or sometimes directly from the property owner. Specialized black-market dealers assist the property owners with such transactions. Items such as medicines as well as essential aircraft and automobile parts (e.g. brakes, motor parts, etc.) are counterfeited on a large scale. Street vendors in countries where there is little enforcement of copyright law , particularly in Asia and Latin America, often sell copies of films , music CDs , and computer software such as video games , sometimes even before

4850-575: The demand for such drugs and profit margins encourage new distributors to enter the market. Drug legalization activists draw parallels between the illegal drug trade and the Prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the 1920s. The laws of many countries forbid or restrict the personal ownership of weapons . These restrictions can range from small knives to firearms , either altogether or by classification (e.g., caliber , handguns , automatic weapons , and explosives ). The black market supplies

4947-773: The demands for weaponry that cannot be obtained legally or may only be obtained legally after obtaining permits and paying fees. This may be by smuggling the arms from countries where they were bought legally or stolen, or by stealing from arms manufacturers within the country itself, using insiders. In cases where the underground economy is unable to smuggle firearms, they can also satisfy requests by gunsmithing their own firearms. Those who may buy this way include criminals to use for illegal activities, gun collectors, and otherwise law-abiding citizens interested in protecting their dwellings, families, or businesses. In England and Wales, certain categories of weapons used for hunting may be owned by qualified residents but must be registered with

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5044-535: The end of the series, the two remained friends until Albert's death on May 26, 2005. Wagner spoke at his funeral, and gave a testimonial about his longtime friendship with him. In partial payment for starring together in the Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg production of the TV movie The Affair , Wagner and Natalie Wood were given a share in three TV series that the producers were developing for ABC . Only one reached

5141-491: The film adaptation. However, his white hair contrasts with the pomaded black hair that Fleming specified in the novel, and he wears a black eye patch over his left eye for reasons that remain unexplained. His powerful influence and command is exhibited at the beginning of the film when a traffic warden begins to protest against Largo's parking in Paris but quickly corrects himself when he sees Largo step out of his Ford Thunderbird on

5238-506: The films How I Spent My Summer Vacation , a made-for-TV movie released in the United Kingdom as Deadly Roulette , and Banning (1967). He returned to Italy to make a caper film with Raquel Welch for MGM, The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968). In 1967, Lew Wasserman of Universal convinced Wagner to make his television series debut in It Takes a Thief (1968–1970) on ABC-TV. ""I

5335-552: The first half of 1961, according to several published accounts, Wood caught him having an extramarital affair with a man in the couple's home. They announced their separation on June 20, 1961, and divorced on April 27, 1962. While working on location in Europe, Wagner reconnected with an old friend, actress Marion Marshall . After a two-year courtship, Wagner, Marshall and her two sons from her marriage to Stanley Donen moved back to America. Wagner and Marshall married on July 21, 1963, at

5432-525: The first two letters of both their first names. Rona signed a three-picture deal with Columbia pictures for Wagner's services, which was to start with Sail a Crooked Ship (1961) and The Interns . He also had a deal to make one more film at Fox, which was to be Solo , the story of a jazz drummer directed by Dick Powell , or The Comancheros with Gary Cooper . Wagner made Sail a Crooked Ship but his part in The Interns went to James MacArthur. Solo

5529-462: The fuel and sell it to black marketeers. Black marketing in vehicle/cooking fuel became widespread during the 2015 Nepal blockade ; even after it was eased and petrol imports resumed, people were not getting the fuel as intended, and resorted to the black market. In some countries including Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and India sex toys are illegal, and are sold illegally, without compliance with regulations on safety, etc. Platforms used to sell sex toys on

5626-442: The lead in an expensive spectacular, Prince Valiant (1954). While popular, critical reception was poor and Wagner later joked his wig in the movie made him look like Jane Wyman . He was teamed with Jeffrey Hunter in a Western, White Feather (1955). Wagner was borrowed by Paramount for The Mountain (1956), directed by Dmytryk, where Wagner was cast as Spencer Tracy's brother, having played his son just two years earlier in

5723-481: The leading role for director Nicholas Ray ( Jeffrey Hunter was Frank). Both movies were box office disappointments and it seemed Wagner was unable to make the transition to top-level star. This appeared confirmed when he was the lead in Stopover Tokyo (1957). In 1959, Wagner disparaged the film: When I started at Fox in 1950 they were making sixty-five pictures a year. Now they're lucky if they make thirty. There

5820-457: The legal requirements or procedures—health checks, standards of accommodation, and so on. In other countries, such as Nicaragua , where legal prostitution is regulated, hotels may require both parties to identify themselves, to prevent child prostitution . Personally identifying information , financial information like credit card and bank account information, and medical data are bought and sold, mostly in darknet markets . People increase

5917-468: The local police force and kept within a locked cabinet. Among those who may purchase weapons on the black market are people who are unable to pass the legal requirements for registration—convicted felons or those suffering from mental illness for example. The illegal logging of timber , according to Interpol , is an industry worth almost as much as the drug production industry in some countries. In many developing countries, living animals are captured in

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6014-503: The main characters' mother on the sitcom Two and a Half Men . His final appearances on the show were in May 2008. Wagner has guest-starred in 13 episodes of NCIS as Anthony DiNozzo Sr., the father of Anthony DiNozzo Jr., played by Michael Weatherly . Weatherly had previously appeared as Wagner in the TV movie The Mystery of Natalie Wood . Wagner was set to star as Charlie in the 2011 remake of Charlie's Angels , but he had to exit

6111-466: The official release of the title. A determined counterfeiter with a few hundred dollars can make copies that are digitally identical to an original with no loss in quality; innovations in consumer DVD and CD writers and the widespread availability of cracks on the Internet for most forms of copy protection technology make this cheap and easy to do. Copyright-holders and other proponents of copyright laws have found this phenomenon hard to stop through

6208-446: The particular institutional rules that they violate: The "illegal economy" consists of economic activities pursued in violation of legal statutes that define the scope of legitimate forms of commerce. Illegal-economy participants produce and distribute prohibited goods and services , such as drugs , weapons , and prostitution . The "unreported economy" circumvents or evades institutionally established fiscal rules as codified in

6305-435: The project due to scheduling conflicts. Despite his apparent feeling of distaste when he was working with Raquel Welch on The Biggest Bundle of Them All , they reunited 50 years later on the 2017 Canadian series Date My Dad . In his memoirs, Wagner said he had had affairs with Yvonne De Carlo , Joan Crawford , Elizabeth Taylor , Anita Ekberg , Shirley Anne Field , Lori Nelson , and Joan Collins . He also claimed

6402-495: The public at large. Additionally, not all people agree with copyright laws, on the grounds that they unfairly criminalize competition, allowing the copyright-holder to effectively monopolize related industries. Copyright-holders also may use region-coding to discriminate against selected populations price-wise and availability-wise. Copyright infringement law goes as far as to deem illegal " mixtapes " and other such material copied to tape or disk. Copyright holders typically attest

6499-488: The rate of exchange of its currency with that of other, "harder" currencies. When it does so, the peg may overvalue the local currency relative to what its market value would be if it were a floating currency . Those in possession of the harder currency, for example, expatriate workers, may be able to use the black market to buy the local currency at better exchange rates than they can get officially. In situations of financial instability and inflation, citizens may substitute

6596-453: The role of piracy in media distribution. The spread of material through file sharing is a source of publicity for artists and builds fan bases that may be inclined to see the performer live (live performances make up the bulk of successful artists' revenues, however not all artists can make live performances, for example, photographers typically only have a single source of income: the licensing of their photos). Money itself may be subject to

6693-589: The rule constitutes a black-market trade since the transaction itself is illegal. Such transactions include the illegal drug trade , prostitution (where prohibited), illegal currency transactions, and human trafficking . Participants try to hide their illegal behavior from the government or regulatory authority. Cash is the preferred medium of exchange in illegal transactions, since cash transactions are less easily traced. Common motives for operating in black markets are to trade contraband, avoid taxes and regulations, or evade price controls or rationing. Typically,

6790-502: The same director's Broken Lance . He received more critical acclaim for the lead in A Kiss Before Dying (1956), from the novel by Ira Levin ; it was made for Crown Productions, a company of Darryl F. Zanuck 's brother in law (the leads were all under contract to Fox) and released through United Artists . Back at Fox Wagner was in Between Heaven and Hell (1956), a war movie, and The True Story of Jesse James (1957), playing

6887-516: The screen, the very successful TV series Charlie's Angels , for which Wagner and Wood had a 50% share, though Wagner was to spend many years in court arguing with Spelling and Goldberg over what was defined as profit. Wagner and Wood acted with Laurence Olivier in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1976), as part of Olivier's television series Laurence Olivier Presents for the UK's Granada Television . Wagner had

6984-514: The second-in-command of the terrorist organization SPECTRE . In the film, Largo is "No. 2" and head of extortion operations. In the novel, Largo is "No. 1"; however the numbers are rotated every month as a security precaution, although Largo is the successor to Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the Supreme Commander of "Plan Omega". Largo's two main headquarters are located in the Bahamas . The first

7081-547: The stage and meeting the public. They never let you rest." 20th Century Studios started to give Wagner better roles. He was the romantic male lead in Stars and Stripes Forever (1952), a biopic about John Philip Sousa starring Clifton Webb . He supported James Cagney and Dan Dailey in John Ford's version of What Price Glory (1952) and supported Webb again in Titanic (1953). He

7178-650: The supply of prostitutes rose abruptly in Denver and Minneapolis in 2008 when the Democratic and Republican National Conventions took place there. Prostitutes in the black market generally operate with some degree of secrecy, sometimes negotiating prices and activities through codewords and subtle gestures. In countries such as Germany or the Netherlands , where prostitution is legal but regulated, illegal prostitutes exist whose services are offered more cheaply without regard for

7275-424: The tax code. A summary measure of the unreported economy is the amount of income that should be reported to the tax authority but is not so reported. A complementary measure of the unreported economy is the " tax gap ": the difference between the amount of tax revenues due the fiscal authority and the amount of tax revenue actually collected. In the U.S. unreported income is estimated to be $ 2 trillion resulting in

7372-510: The taxes and the exchange rate between the Republic's euro (and previously punt ) and Northern Ireland's pound sterling ; indeed sometimes diesel will be smuggled in one direction and petrol the other. In some countries, diesel fuel for agricultural vehicles or domestic use is taxed at a much lower rate than that for other vehicles. This is known as dyed fuel , because a colored dye is added so it can be detected if used in other vehicles (e.g.

7469-493: The taxicab market with a medallion system (taxicabs must get a special license and display it on a medallion in the vehicle). In most such jurisdictions it is legal to sell the medallions, but the limited supply and resulting high prices of medallions have led to a market in unlicensed carpooling / illegal taxicab operation . In Baltimore , Maryland , for example, it is not uncommon for private individuals to provide illegal taxicab service for city residents. In places where there

7566-550: The theatre for the first time with the lead role in Mister Roberts for one week at a holiday resort just outside Chicago.  The disciplines of the theatre were not his forte and Wagner was glad to be back in Hollywood to find a good supporting role in the modern-day private investigator hit, Harper (1966), starring Paul Newman . Wagner signed with Universal Pictures in 1966, starring opposite future wife Jill St. John in

7663-527: The theft of two nuclear weapons from NATO at sea to which he would then use to hold the world hostage by threatening to detonate the two devices in Britain or the United States unless they paid the ransom of £100 million British pounds . This scheme has been used countless times since Thunderball and is even a joke in the Austin Powers series of movies. The basic concept of Largo's scheme in Thunderball

7760-499: The totality of such activity is referred to with the definite article, e.g., " the black market in bush meat". The black market is distinct from the grey market , in which commodities are distributed through channels that, while legal, are unofficial, unauthorized, or unintended by the original manufacturer, and the white market, in which trade is legal and official. Black money is the proceeds of an illegal transaction, on which income and other taxes have not been paid. Black money

7857-600: The underground market offers lower prices, consumers may still buy on the legal market when possible, because: However, in some situations, consumers may conclude that they are better off using black market services, particularly when government regulations hinder what would otherwise be a legitimate competitive service. For example, in Baltimore , many consumers actively prefer illegal taxi cabs, citing that they are more available, convenient, and fairly priced. Some examples of underground economic activities include: Prostitution

7954-420: The value of the stolen data by aggregating it with publicly available data, and selling it again for a profit, increasing the damage that can be done to the people whose data was stolen. From the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many countries began to ban the possession or use of some recreational drugs , such as in the United States' war on drugs . Many people nonetheless continue to use illegal drugs, and

8051-613: The way to a SPECTRE meeting. Like Count Lippe , Umberto Eco describes Largo as handsome and personable, but also vulgar and cruel. Christoph Lindner describes Largo as a "vicarious figure". Celi's voice was dubbed by Robert Rietty (who previously dubbed the voice of John Strangways in Dr. No and later a man resembling Ernst Stavro Blofeld , in For Your Eyes Only ). With his status as SPECTRE's second in command, Largo and his appearance inspired Robert Wagner 's character "Number Two" in

8148-405: The wild and sold as pets. Wild animals are also hunted and killed for their meat , hide, and organs, the latter of which and other animal parts are sold for use in traditional medicine. In several states in the United States , laws requiring the pasteurization of milk have created black markets in raw milk , and sometimes in raw milk cheese which is legal in a number of EU countries but banned in

8245-592: The world and strict limits on the amount of tobacco that can be imported duty-free from other countries, leading to widespread attempts to smuggle relatively cheap tobacco from low tax countries into the U.K. Such smuggling efforts range from vacationers concealing relatively small quantities of tobacco in their luggage to large-scale enterprises linked to organized crime . British authorities have aggressively tried to detect and confiscate such illegal imports, and to prosecute those caught. Nevertheless, it has been reported that "27% of cigarettes and 68% of roll your own tobacco

8342-411: Was a chance to get some training in B pictures. Then TV struck. Everything went big and they started sticking me into Cinemascope spectacles. One day, smiling Joe Juvenile with no talent was doing a role intended for John Wayne . That was in a dog called Stopover Tokyo . I've really had to work to keep up. Wagner supported Robert Mitchum in a Korean War movie, The Hunters (1958), and appeared with

8439-512: Was a comedy where Wagner again supported an older star, in this case Claudette Colbert . Wagner first gained significant attention with a small but showy part as a shell-shocked soldier in With a Song in My Heart (1952). "You were part of 20th Century Fox", he said. "You felt proud of being part of the organization. When I wasn't working, I was on the road, going out and selling movies or dancing on

8536-525: Was a longtime friend of Astaire, having gone to school with Astaire's eldest son, Peter. Wagner's performance would earn him an Emmy nomination for Best TV Actor. During the making of the series he made a film for Universal, the comedy Don't Just Stand There! (1968) with Mary Tyler Moore . It was not a success. More popular was Winning (1969), a racing car drama where Wagner supported Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward . He also guest-starred in The Name of

8633-471: Was always placing me in different positions." Wagner's first film for Fox was Halls of Montezuma (1951) a World War II film. Wagner had a supporting role, with Richard Widmark as the star. The studio then had him perform a similar function in another war movie, The Frogmen (1951), again with Widmark; the cast also included another young male under contract to the studio, Jeffrey Hunter , with whom Wagner would often work. Let's Make It Legal (1951)

8730-457: Was at its peak with the CBS-TV television series Switch (1975–1978, opposite Eddie Albert , Sharon Gless , and Charlie Callas ) after re-signing a contract with Universal in 1974. Albert had been a childhood hero of Wagner's, after he watched the movie Brother Rat , along with a few others. The friendship started in the early 1960s, where he also co-starred in a couple of Albert's movies. After

8827-719: Was cast "the audience will resent him as Hart for being that rich. But no one will begrudge RJ [Wagner] a nickel." During the series run, Wagner reprised his old Pink Panther role in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983). He also had a supporting role in I Am the Cheese (1983). Wagner played an insurance investigator in the short-lived TV series Lime Street (1985). In 1985, he reflected, "Bad-guy roles work if they're really good parts, but they don't come along very often. I think that what I've been doing has worked for me. Sure I'd like to do

8924-567: Was coined by the Employers' Association of Chicago in June 1927 in a statement about the influence of organized crime in the Teamsters union. Where taxicabs, buses, and other transportation providers are strictly regulated or monopolized by government, a black market typically flourishes to provide transportation to poorly served or overpriced communities. In the United States, some cities restrict entry to

9021-412: Was estimated that 5% of all organ recipients engaged in commercial organ transplant in 2005. Research indicates that illegal organ trade is on the rise, with a recent report by Global Financial Integrity estimating that the illegal organ trade generates profits between $ 600 million and $ 1.2 billion per year across many countries. A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve

9118-526: Was in a minor Western, The Silver Whip (1953) with Rory Calhoun . Fox gave Wagner his first starring role in Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953). Reviews were poor but the movie was only the third ever to be shot in CinemaScope and was a big hit. Also popular was a Western, Broken Lance (1954), where Wagner supported Spencer Tracy for director Edward Dmytryk , appearing as Tracy's son. Fox gave Wagner

9215-565: Was never made, and The Comancheros was made instead with John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. Wagner did make The War Lover (1962) with Steve McQueen that was filmed in England. Wagner's first marriage to Wood had broken up, and he relocated to Europe. He had a small role in The Longest Day (1962), produced by Daryl Zanuck for Fox. He had a larger part in The Condemned of Altona (1962),

9312-560: Was opposed to doing Thief ", Wagner said later. "But Lew Wasserman said: 'I want you to be in TV Guide every week. This is your medium, you've got to try it, you'll be great.' Roland Kibbee wrote the part for me, and I would have missed all that if I hadn't listened to Lew." While the success of The Pink Panther and Harper began Wagner's comeback, the successful two-and-a-half seasons of his first TV series completed it. In this series, he acted with Fred Astaire , who played his father. Wagner

9409-476: Was represented by Albert R. Broccoli . He made his uncredited film debut in The Happy Years (1950); was signed by agent Henry Willson and put under contract with 20th Century Fox . "I started off as an ingenue ", recalled Wagner. "I was 19 years old. I was the boy next door. But you always felt you could work your way up, that you could have a better part in the next picture. [Head of Fox] Darryl Zanuck

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