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Manoj K Jayan

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Manoj Kadampoothramadam Jayan is an Indian actor popularly knows as Manoj K Jayan who predominantly acts in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actor, respectively for his portrayals of Hariharan's 'Kuttan Thampuran' in Sargam (1992), 'Thalakkal Chandu' in Pazhassi Raja (2009) and 'Kunjiraman' in Farook Abdul Rahiman's Kaliyachan. His most critically acclaimed characters are "Kuttan Thampuran" (Sargam), "Digambaran" (Anandabhadram), "Thalakkal Chandu" (Pazhassi Raja).
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Sean Connery

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Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 – October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer. He won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards (one being a BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award), and three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award and a Henrietta Award. Connery was the first actor to portray the character James Bond in film, starring in seven Bond films (every film from Dr. No to You Only Live Twice, plus Diamonds Are Forever and Never Say Never Again), between 1962 and 1983. In 1988, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Untouchables. His films also include Marnie (1964), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), A Bridge Too Far (1977), Highlander (1986), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Dragonheart (1996), The Rock (1996), and Finding Forrester (2000). Connery was polled in a 2004 The Sunday Herald as "The Greatest Living Scot" and in a 2011 EuroMillions survey as "Scotland's Greatest Living National Treasure". He was voted by People magazine as both the “Sexiest Man Alive" in 1989 and the "Sexiest Man of the Century” in 1999. He received a lifetime achievement award in the United States with a Kennedy Center Honor in 1999. Connery was knighted in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to film drama. On October 31, 2020, Connery died at the age of 90.
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Joey DeMaio

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Joey DeMaio (born March 6, 1954) is an American musician who is the bass player and main songwriter for the heavy metal band Manowar which he founded in 1980. He is also the founder and CEO of Magic Circle Music. Biography He is a childhood friend of Manowar singer Eric Adams. DeMaio played bass in several school bands. In the 1970s, he toured with the musical Godspell (premiere in 1971 in New York City), taking musical lessons with the conductor. He worked as a pyro-tech for Black Sabbath during their "Heaven and Hell" tour. In 2006, shortly after creating the record label Magic Circle Music, DeMaio became a manager of the Italian metal band Rhapsody of Fire. He is also a producer for the band HolyHell.
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Nawaf Salem Al-Shammeri

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Nawaf Salem Al Shammari is a prominent Kuwaiti director and actor celebrated for his innovative contributions to Gulf television, especially in the comedy genre. Known for his unique blend of satire and social commentary, Al Shammari has directed and produced several acclaimed series, including Fada’iyat (فضائيات), Cinémas (سينمائيات), and Block 13 (قطعة 13). These works highlight his talent for humor and cultural critique, resonating deeply with audiences across the Arab world. His work has earned him numerous awards, notably the Golden Award at the Cairo Television Festival for Cinémas, underscoring his impact on the regional entertainment scene. Educated in film studies at the University of Utah, Al Shammari merges his formal training with a profound understanding of Gulf culture, crafting content that engages and entertains.
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Maurice Vander

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Maurice Vanderschueren, better known as Maurice Vander (born 11 June 1929, Vitry-sur-Seine, died 16 February 2017, Montmorillon ) was a French jazz keyboardist. Vander worked in the 1950s with Don Byas, Django Reinhardt, Bobby Jaspar, Jimmy Raney, Stephane Grappelli, Chet Baker, and Kenny Clarke. He won the Prix Django Reinhardt in 1962. In the 1960s he was a session musician for Roger Guerin, Pierre Gossez, and Boulou Ferré, and played with Claude Nougaro and Ivan Jullien. He played with Baker again in the late 1970s and with Johnny Griffin; his later work included performing and recording with Clarke, Richie Cole, Art Farmer, and Benny Powell. Vander is the adoptive father of Christian Vander (musician). Source: Article "Maurice Vander" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Ray Conniff

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Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United States, and learned to play the trombone from his father. He studied music arranging from a course book. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II (where he worked under Walter Schumann), he joined the Artie Shaw big band and wrote many arrangements for him. After his stint with Shaw, he was hired in 1954 by Mitch Miller, head of A&R at Columbia Records, as the label's home arranger, working with several artists including Rosemary Clooney, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell and Johnnie Ray. He wrote a top-10 arrangement for Don Cherry's "Band of Gold" in 1955, a single that sold more than a million copies. Among the hit singles Conniff backed with his orchestra (and eventually with a male chorus) were "Yes Tonight Josephine" and "Just Walkin' in the Rain" by Johnnie Ray; "Chances Are" and "It's Not for Me to Say" by Johnny Mathis; "A White Sport Coat" and "The Hanging Tree" by Marty Robbins; "Moonlight Gambler" by Frankie Laine; "Up Above My Head", a duet by Frankie Laine and Johnnie Ray; and "Pet Me, Poppa" by Rosemary Clooney. He also backed up the albums Tony by Tony Bennett, Blue Swing by Eileen Rodgers, Swingin' for Two by Don Cherry, and half the tracks of The Big Beat by Johnnie Ray. In these early years Conniff produced similar-sounding records for Columbia's Epic label under the name of Jay Raye (which stood for "Joseph Raymond"), among them a backing album and singles with the American male vocal group Somethin' Smith and the Redheads. Between 1957 and 1968, Conniff had 28 albums in the American Top 40, the most famous one being Somewhere My Love (1966). He topped the album list in Britain in 1969 with His Orchestra, His Chorus, His Singers, His Sound, an album which was originally published to promote his European tour (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) in 1969. He also was the first American popular artist to record in Russia—in 1974 he recorded Ray Conniff in Moscow with the help of a local choir. His later albums like Exclusivamente Latino, Amor Amor, and Latinisimo made him very popular in Latin-American countries, even more so after performing in the Viña del Mar International Song Festival. In Brazil and Chile in the 1980s and 1990s, he was treated like a young pop superstar despite being in his seventies and eighties. He played live with his orchestra and eight-person chorus in large football stadiums as well as in Viña del Mar. ... Source: Article "Ray Conniff" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Lewis Milestone

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Lewis Milestone (born Lev Milstein) (September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director. He also directed The Front Page (1931 - nomination), The General Died at Dawn (1936), Of Mice and Men (1940), Ocean's Eleven (1960), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). Description above from the Wikipedia article Lewis Milestone, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Julie Payne

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   Julie K. Payne (born September 11, 1946) is an American television, film and stage actress who, in a career lasting over four decades, has specialized primarily in comedy roles as well as voice acting. She was a cast member in three short-lived network sitcoms during 1983–86, and appeared in about twenty feature films and over a hundred episodes of TV series as well as providing voices for scores of TV animated shows. Description above from the Wikipedia article Julie Payne (post-1960s actress), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Billy Cobham

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William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. According to AllMusic, Cobham is generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1987 and the Classic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013. AllMusic biographer Steve Huey said, "Generally acclaimed as fusion's greatest drummer, Billy Cobham's explosive technique powered some of the genre's most important early recordings – including groundbreaking efforts by Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra – before he became an accomplished bandleader in his own right. At his best, Cobham harnessed his amazing dexterity into thundering, high-octane hybrids of jazz complexity and rock & roll aggression." Cobham's influence stretched far beyond jazz, including on progressive rock contemporaries like Bill Bruford of King Crimson and Danny Carey of Tool. Prince played a version of Cobham's Stratus in concert. Phil Collins, who named Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame as a key influence on his early style said, "Billy Cobham played some of the finest drumming I've ever heard on that record."
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Mark Boals

Biography

Mark Robert Boals (born December 5, 1958) is an American heavy metal vocalist and occasional bassist, best known for his vocals with Yngwie Malmsteen. He is currently a member of the band Foundry. Boals' first album with Malmsteen, 1986's Trilogy, achieved platinum status in the US and sold several million copies worldwide. As a young child, he learned to play the piano and bass guitar. Although Boals has never had any vocal lessons or training, as a teenager he gained experience as a vocalist in local groups. Boals is the founder and vocalist for the band Ring of Fire, and had a brief stint as the bassist for Dokken. Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Boals licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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