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Alfredo Landa
Biography
Alfredo Landa (3 March 1933 – 9 May 2013) was a Spanish actor.
Alfredo Landa Arena born in Pamplona (Navarre), Spain. He finished his pre-university studies in San Sebastián. He then began university studies on Law, where he began to work with university school groups. He left university to work in the theater. After working as a dubbing actor for a short time in the 1950s, he debuted with his first considerable role in film in José María Forqué's Atraco a las tres in 1962. When Francisco Franco died in 1975, censorship began to disappear. This led to a growth of erotic comedies on Spanish cinema. Landa became the "sexually repressed" role of that trend, especially under directors Mariano Ozores and Pedro Lazaga. He even created his own trend, that some people called landismo.[2]
Afterwards, Landa changed his image, taking much deeper roles, like his bandit in El Bosque animado. Landa, along with Francisco Rabal, won Best Actor award at 1984 Cannes Film Festival for his memorable performance in Los santos inocentes. He is now widely recognized as a great dramatic actor. After a career with more than one hundred and twenty movies, one dozen of television series, and several stage successes, with a great amount of Spanish and European awards, 74-year-old Landa announced his retirement at the X Festival de Cine de Málaga (10th Movie Festival of Málaga) while receiving a new award. Description above from the Wikipedia article Alfredo Landa (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Georges Thill
Biography
Georges Thill (14 December 1897 – 17 October 1984) was a French opera singer, often considered to be his country's greatest lyric-dramatic tenor. Born in Paris, his career lasted from 1924 to 1953, peaking during the 1930s.
A pupil of the Neapolitan tenor Fernando De Lucia (1860–1925), Thill made his opera debut at the Paris Opéra in 1924, and he continued to appear there and at the Opéra-Comique for several decades, undertaking a busy schedule of performances.
In addition, he sang throughout Europe and in South America, receiving the acclaim of audiences and critics at La Scala, Milan, the Rome Opera, the Verona Arena, the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. He also gave 14 performances, of seven roles, across two seasons (1931–1932), at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City; but he had difficulty fitting in with the unfamiliar American cultural environment, experiencing health difficulties, and he was less well received by the Met's patrons as a consequence.
His voice began to show signs of decline during the 1940s and he retired from the stage in 1953. He died in 1984 in Draguignan.
Chronologically, Thill's operatic repertoire ranged from Gluck to Puccini and embraced works by Gounod, Massenet, Berlioz, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Verdi and Leoncavallo, among others. He also gave song recitals and was a frequent visitor to the recording studio. He cut many 78-rpm discs of French, Italian and German operatic arias and duets, and participated in the recording of an entire performance of Massenet's Werther by French Columbia Records. The finest of his 78s, dating from 1927 to circa 1940, display the gleaming tone of his voice at its superlative best, as well as demonstrating his spotless taste, stylish phrasing and pellucid diction.
Thill also appeared in several film clips and French-language motion pictures, including Louise (1939), based on Gustave Charpentier's opera. It was directed by Abel Gance and featured Grace Moore as Thill's co-star. Privately, Thill, while a dedicated musician, enjoyed a convivial off-stage lifestyle, and he later blamed his propensity to burn the candle at both ends for shortening the span of his vocal prime.
Many of Thill's 78-rpm records are available on CD reissues by EMI and the Preiser label. Naxos Records has produced a two-CD set featuring his singing of six Massenet arias plus his recording of the complete title role of Massenet's Werther, which he made in January 1931. On it, he partners Ninon Vallin and Germaine Féraldy, with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Paris Opera: Élie Cohen, conductor. (Naxos Historical 8.110061-62.)
Source: Article "Georges Thill" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Sean Connery
Biography
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (August 25, 1930 - October 31, 2020) was a Scottish actor and producer who 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, it was announced that Connery had died at the age of 90.
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Zina Louhaichy
Biography
Zina Louhaichy is a Moroccan-Italian actress born in New York City. She began her career acting at the age of twelve performing in school plays and taking classes at the renowned HB Studio. She is now a senior drama major at NYU studying at Playwrights Horizons Theatre School and is a graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School's drama program. Zina starred in Kasbi by Farah Jabir, which was featured at the Tribeca Festival, and Tea by Blake Rice, showcased at the Cannes Festival. She is signed with Stewart Talent for film, television, voice-overs, and commercials, and managed by Edge Entertainment Management. She also runs her own fashion brand, Louhaichy, which blends her Moroccan and New York heritages and has been recently featured in Teen Vogue.
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Janet Hubert
Biography
Janet Louise Hubert was born in Chicago, IL. She is best known for playing the sassy, witty, outgoing, protective mom on the hit TV sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990).
Janet Hubert spent most of her childhood growing up in Momence, IL. That changed when she won a scholarship to Julliard School in New York City. After Juilliard, Janet studied all forms of dance and studied with some of the best teachers including Alvin Ailey and David Howard. She debuted on Broadway in "The First". She went on to do shows such as "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Dancin'", and was a member of the original Broadway cast of "CATS", where she created the role of Tantomile, and was the understudy for Betty Buckley, singing the title role, in New York City. However, her most memorable role came in 1990 when she made her TV debut in "Fresh Prince". She has since guest-starred on numerous shows, including Gilmore Girls (2000), Friends (1994), The Bernie Mac Show (2001) and Tales from the Crypt (1989). She has also appeared on the Tyler Perry hit House of Payne (2006). Janet has been battling osteoporosis and has recently became an ambassador for the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Janet will forever be known as a versatile actress, dancer and singer. She was, to many, a woman who stood her ground, much like that of her character on "Fresh Prince"--the strong-willed yet elegant, original, one and only Vivian Banks.
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Norbert Schiller
Biography
Norbert Schiller, Born in Vienna, Austria on November 24, 1899, Norbert Schiller embarked on a successful acting career that spanned across continents and mediums. Schiller's early life is shrouded in some mystery. We know he was born in Vienna and entered the world of acting at a young age, captivating audiences with his natural stage presence and expressive voice. He honed his skills in the vibrant Viennese theater scene, eventually graduating to prominent roles in both Austria and Germany.
The allure of Hollywood beckoned in the 1920s, leading Schiller to relocate to Los Angeles and pursue opportunities in American film. He quickly found success, appearing in numerous films throughout the silent and early sound eras. His versatility allowed him to portray a wide range of characters, from charming heroes to cunning villains, captivating audiences with his nuanced performances.
Schiller's career continued to flourish throughout the mid-20th century. He divided his time between film and television, appearing in popular shows like "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." He also continued to work in theater, both on Broadway and in regional productions.
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Chris D.
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris D., real name Chris Desjardins, is a punk poet, rock critic, singer, writer, actor and filmmaker. Chris D. is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early Los Angeles punk/deathrock band The Flesh Eaters. Desjardins was a feature writer at Slash magazine in 1977, when he formed a band with several friends from the Los Angeles punk scene, including Tito Larriva. The album, "A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die", recorded and released in 1981, featured: John Doe, DJ Bonebrake (X), Dave Alvin (The Blasters), Bill Bateman (The Blasters) and Steve Berlin (The Blasters, Los Lobos). The band recorded two further albums; "Forever Came Today" (1982) and "A Hard Road to Follow" (1983) with Don Kirk on guitar, Robyn Jameson on bass and Chris Wahl on drums, Chris D. on vocals and occasionally Jill Jordan on backing vocals.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris D., licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Jean Cau
Biography
Jean Cau (8 July 1925, in Bram, Aude – 18 June 1993) was a French writer and journalist.
Born in Bram, Aude, he was secretary to Jean-Paul Sartre, after which he was a journalist and reporter for L'Express, Figaro, and Paris Match. In 1961, he was awarded the Prix Goncourt for The Mercy of God.
From the 1970s onwards he grew close to GRECE and his writings became infused with a sun-worshipping neopaganism. Jacques Marlaud dedicated an entire chapter to Cau in his study on contemporary literary and philosophical paganism.
Source: Article "Jean Cau (writer)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Helen Morgan
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helen Morgan (August 2, 1900 – October 9, 1941) was an American singer and actress who worked in films and on the stage. A quintessential torch singer, she made a big splash in the Chicago club scene in the 1920s. She starred as Julie LaVerne in the original Broadway production of Hammerstein and Kern's musical Show Boat in 1927, as well as in the 1932 Broadway revival of the musical, and appeared in two film adaptations, a part-talkie made in 1929 (prologue only) and a full-sound version made in 1936, becoming firmly associated with the role. She suffered from bouts of alcoholism, and despite her notable success in the title role of another Hammerstein and Kern's Broadway musical, Sweet Adeline (1929), her stage career was relatively short. Helen Morgan died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of 41. She was portrayed by Polly Bergen in the Playhouse 90 drama The Helen Morgan Story and by Ann Blyth in the 1957 biopic based on the television drama.
Morgan appeared in at least 15 films including Show Boat 1929, Applause 1929, Marie Galante 1934 and Show Boat 1936.
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Chris Morris
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Morris (born 15 June 1955) is an English satirist, writer, director and actor. A former radio DJ, he is best known for anchoring the spoof news and current affairs television programmes The Day Today and Brass Eye, as well as his frequent engagement with controversial subject matter.
In 2010 Morris directed his first feature-length film Four Lions about a group of inept British terrorists. Reception of the film was largely positive and received a respectable box office. Outside his central work, Morris tends to stay out of the public eye and has become one of the more enigmatic figures in British comedy.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Chris Morris (satirist), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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