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David Berkowitz

Biography

David Berkowitz was born as Richard David Falco. His mother had him out of wedlock when she had an affair with a married real-estate agent named Joseph Klineman. Her husband Tony Falco had left her a few years before that. His mother gave him up for adoption to Nathan and Pearl Berkowitz who named him David Berkowitz Chicago. Being rejected by his birth mother caused David to develop an inferiority complex especially with women and thought he was unappealing to them. He worked as a postman and a security guard. In 1974 he 'heard voices' in his head that ordered him to kill. Berkowitz began to blame these voices on his neighbor Sam Carr's black Labrador that kept him up at night by its barking. He would send hate letters to Carr and in April 1977 even shot and wounded the dog. On July 29, 1976 he killed his first official victim. His modus operandi was to approach unsuspecting people late at night, pull out a gun from a brown paper bag and shoot them at point blank range. Most of his victims were couples, necking in their cars or in a park late at night. His female victims tended to be brunettes with long hair, which caused a scare in parts of New York and had women 'blonding' themselves and cutting their hair short to avoid being targeted. Couples were also advised not to stay out late at night by the local authorities as the serial killings escalated. They were all shot with a .44 caliber bulldog gun and hence his first nickname by the press - ".44 Caliber Killer". Most crimes occurred in the boroughs of Bronx and Queens but other parts of the city felt the terror too. The police task force for the case - 'Operation Omega' was formed. Inside the car of one of the victims the police found a letter. One was addressed to Cpt. Joseph Borelli and another to NY columnist Jimmy Breslin (June 1, 1977). The killer identified himself as "Sam's" and now the press had a new moniker - "Son of Sam". The last "S.o.S" killing took place on July 31, 1977. A witness had seen a young man (David) near the crime scene walking away with something tucked under his jacket. He was observed removing a parking ticket from a yellow Ford Galaxie that had blocked a fire hydrant. The police traced tickets in that area to Berkowitz address in Yonkers. Inside the car they found a loaded .44. They waited for him and when he approached the car they arrested the pudgy unassuming postman. He surrendered without a fight and confessed to being 'Son of Sam'. Though diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic he was found sane enough for trial. On August 23, 1977 he was sentenced to six life sentences.
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Olga Peretyatko

Biography

The soprano OLGA PERETYATKO comes from St. Petersburg. She studied at the Hanns-Eisler-Musikhochschule in Berlin and after the opera studio, joined the Hamburg State Opera. In 2007, Olga Peretyatko was a prize-winner at the Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition. Engagements have led and are leading the soprano among others, to the Komische Oper Berlin, the Deutschen Oper and Staatsoper in Berlin, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, the Hamburg Staatsoper, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Opera de Lyon, the Theatre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, die Milan Scala, the Salzburg Festival, the New York Metropolitan Opera, theTeatro La Fenice in Venice as well as more international music theaters. Her repertoire includes works among others, like Giulietta (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Violetta (La traviata), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Alcina, Gilda (Rigoletto), Adina (L‘elisir damore), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) und Elvira (I puritani). She gave her debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2013 as Gilda and also sang Elvira. http://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/Content.Node/home/kuenstler/saengerinnen/Peretyatko.en.php
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Charles H. Joffe

Biography

Charles H. Joffe (July 16, 1929 – July 9, 2008) was an American film producer and comedy talent manager. He is best known as, in partnership with Jack Rollins, the producer or executive producer of most of Woody Allen's films. Joffe won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Picture as producer of Allen's Annie Hall. Annie Hall was listed as "A Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe Production", though only Joffe took producer credit and received the Academy Award for Best Picture. Both were Allen's longtime managers and had that credit on all his films from 1969 to 1993. Joffe focused more on Allen, with Rollins focusing on others. Their clients also included Robert Klein and David Letterman. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Paulo Costanzo

Biography

Paulo Costanzo  (born September 21, 1978) is a Canadian actor who is best-known for his roles in the 2000 comedy Road Trip, the sitcom Joey which ran from 2004 to 2006, and as Evan R. Lawson in the current USA Network series Royal Pains. Costanzo was born in Brampton, Ontario. His mother is a singer/songwriter and his father an artist. Costanzo is of half-Italian ancestry. Description above from the Wikipedia article Paulo Costanzo, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Ronnie Golden

Biography

Ronnie Golden, born Tony De Meur, is a British singer, guitarist and comedian. He was the founder of the band The Fabulous Poodles. After the group broke up, he worked as a comedian as a member of The Comic Strip. From the early 1980s he made many appearances at The Comedy Store and on the London alternative comedy circuit. He appeared in the second episode of the comedy series, The Young Ones, hanging upside-down from the ceiling as Buddy Holly still in his parachute. Golden now fronts an R&B and soul group, Ronnie and the Rex. He also writes songs and sketches for BBC Radio 4's The Right Time. A long-time musical collaborator with Barry Cryer, Golden and Cryer performed at the Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People show at The Bloomsbury Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo in December 2009. Cryer and Golden's performance was broadcast on BBC Four on 23 January 2010.
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Genesis Redido

Biography

Genesis Redido is a Filipino athlete, actor, and model. He was born in Bacoor, Cavite, Philippines. He has humble beginnings. Because his parents separated and were working abroad when he was young, he mostly grew up on his own. He used to sell fish, bottles, and cartons in a local market to help him with his daily allowance. In volleyball, he was mentored by his transgender sister. He is currently a member of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Men's Volleyball Team. He is currently taking a Bachelor of Physical Education degree Major in Sports and Wellness Management at UST, Manila, Philippines.
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William Cameron

Biography

William Cameron is best known as the author of Violet Sharp, winner of the 2007 Julie Harris Playwriting Prize. Violet Sharp, a drama of the Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, received its world premiere at Theatre 40 in Los Angeles in 2009 and was published by Samuel French in 2012. ​More recently, Bill’s drama Truth Be Told has received national attention. A taut, two-character drama exploring the aftermath of a mass shooting, Truth Be Told won both the 2020 Stanley Drama Award from Wagner College and the W. Keith Hedrick Playwriting Contest from HRC Showcase Theatre. Truth Be Told was also featured in this year’s Ashland New Plays Festival in Ashland, Oregon, as well as the Dayton Playhouse's FutureFest 2021. ​Bill’s plays have been performed around the country, including off-off Broadway at the Harold Clurman Theatre, the Source Theatre in Washington, DC, the Pittsburgh New Works Festival, and numerous community and academic theatres. Professor emeritus of Theatre and Communication Arts at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, William has written several plays tailored specifically to his students. These include Intersect, a drama about racial tensions at a small college, and Cease to Exist, a chronicle of the Manson murders. Bill lives in Washington, Pennsylvania with his wife, artist and actress Susan Martinelli.
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Patsy Kensit

Biography

Patricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and singer. Beginning her career as a child actor, Kensit gained attention when she acted in a string of commercials for Birds Eye frozen peas. She went on to appear in films such as The Great Gatsby (1974), Gold (1974), Alfie Darling (1975), Hennessy (1975), The Blue Bird (1976) and Hanover Street (1979). Balancing a dual career as both an actress and a singer, in 1983 Kensit formed and became the lead singer of the pop band Eighth Wonder. The group released several singles, including the top 20 hits "I'm Not Scared" and "Cross My Heart", before disbanding in 1989. Kensit achieved further success in her breakthrough role as Suzette in the musical film Absolute Beginners (1986) and as Rika van den Haas in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) before starring in the films Blue Tornado (1991), Timebomb (1991), Twenty-One (1991), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Bitter Harvest (1993), Full Eclipse (1993), Angels & Insects (1995), Love and Betrayal (1995) and Grace of My Heart (1996). Following a return to television, between 2004 and 2006, Kensit played the role of Sadie King in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and then that of Faye Morton in the BBC One medical drama Holby City from 2007 to 2010, and again for an episode in 2019. Throughout 2023, she played Emma Harding in EastEnders. Kensit has been married to musicians Dan Donovan, Jim Kerr, Liam Gallagher and Jeremy Healy. Kensit was nominated for the Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a Motion Picture for her role in Hanover Street (1979). In 1991, she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead in Twenty-One (1991), and later had several nominations for her role in Emmerdale. Patricia Jude Francis Kensit was born on 4 March 1968, at the General Lying-In Hospital, Lambeth, to James and Margaret Rose (née Doohan). Kensit's maternal grandparents hailed from County Leitrim, Ireland. She has an older brother. Her mother was a secretary at Dior and former model, who had previously dated Aga Khan IV, while Kensit's father was a close associate of both the Kray Twins and the Richardson Gang, earning himself the nickname "Jimmy the Dip", and was involved in the Great Train Robbery. He served time in prison before Kensit was born and used a cover as an antiques dealer. Kensit's godfather was Reggie Kray. Her paternal grandfather was a robber and counterfeiter. Kensit spent her childhood living on a council estate in Hounslow and had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. She attended Newland House School, St Catherine's School, Twickenham, and Corona Theatre School.
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Katy Sullivan

Biography

Katy Sullivan is an American actress, producer, writer, and Paralympic track and field athlete and US record holder. Sullivan was born a bilateral transfemoral amputee, missing both lower legs. She grew up in Alabama, pursuing interests in gymnastics, singing and acting, and received a BFA in acting from Webster University's Conservatory in St. Louis. As an actress, she has performed in The Long Red Road at the Goodman Theatre directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman and as the title character in Shakespeare's Richard III with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in 2024. She has appeared in television shows and independent films including the award-winning documentary Walk On. Sullivan has been seen on NBC's My Name Is Earl, ABC's Last Man Standing with Tim Allen, FX's comedy Legit, CBS' NCIS: New Orleans, and appears as Esther in the 2021 reboot of the Showtime series Dexter. Sullivan starred as Ani alongside Wendell Pierce in the world premiere of Cost of Living at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Sullivan reprised the role of Ani in the Manhattan Theatre Club's Pulitzer Prize-winning off-Broadway production of Cost of Living, for which she won a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance, and an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She reprised the role on Broadway in 2022, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. She was the first female amputee to be nominated for a Tony Award, and the first female amputee to perform on Broadway. She co-created SulliFlinn Productions with fellow Webster Grad, Becca Flinn White. They produce online comedy content, short films and are developing a comedy, Legs, based on their life experiences. They were 2015 fellows at the Producers Guild of America in their Power of Diversity program Sullivan is a four-time US champion in the 100 m. She was among the first bilateral above-knee amputees to compete in the Paralympics in ambulatory track when she ran in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, setting a new American record of 17.33 seconds and finishing 6th in the World. In November 2015, Sullivan received the Athletes in Excellence Award from The Foundation for Global Sports Development, in recognition of her community service efforts and work with youth.
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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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