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John Smith
Biography
Actor John Smith was born Robert Errol Van Orden in Los Angeles. He began his career singing with The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, a group which appeared in two Bing Crosby films, Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945).
His agent Henry Willson, who also gave Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson their names, changed Van Orden's name to "John Smith". Robert Hofler, author of "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson", reports that an actress identified as Pocahontas Crowfoot was in the courtroom when the name change was granted.
In We're No Angels (1955), Smith had a small role as "Arnaud", the ship's doctor. Aldo Ray, observing the doctor in full dress whites, says "he looks like a glass of milk". John Smith's other film credits include Circus World (1964) and Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1972). Smith also appeared in the television westerns Cimarron City (1958) and Laramie (1959).
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Annie Cordy
Biography
Léonie Juliana, Baroness Cooreman (16 June 1928 – 4 September 2020), also known by her stage name Annie Cordy, was a Belgian actress and singer. She appeared in more than 50 films from 1954 and staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia. Her version of "La Ballade de Davy Crockett" was number 1 in the charts for five weeks in France in August 1956. She was born in Laeken, Belgium, where in 2004, King Albert II of Belgium bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in recognition for her life's achievements.
Cordy was born in the Brussels suburb of Laken, Belgium, the daughter of Maria de Leeuw and Cornelius January Cooreman. She had a brother, Louis, and a sister, Jeanne.
At the age of eight, her mother enrolled her in a dance class. She learned piano and music theory, while pursuing her studies, and participated in charity galas. Between the dance numbers, she sang the hits of the day. Artistic director of Le Lido encouraged her to leave Brussels, her hometown, and Annie Cordy arrived in Paris on 1 May 1950, to be hired as a lead dancer.
Cordy recorded her first songs in 1952 ("Les Trois Bandits de Napoli", "Quand c'est aux autos de passer", "La bourrée d'Auvergne montagnarde") and made her debut in the musical, "La Route fleurie", alongside Georges Guétary and Bourvil. This lasted until 1955.
Then she made her film debut in 1953 when she appeared as herself in Boum sur Paris, next to Jacques Pills and Armand Bernard. That same year, she had her first hit record with "Bonbons, caramels, esquimaux, chocolats" or "Léon".
In 1954 she starred in April Fools' Day as Charlotte Dupuy, alongside her friend Bourvil, Louis de Funès, Denise Grey, and Maurice Biraud. The film was a big success with almost three million ticket sales. She also played Madame Langlois in Sacha Guitry's Royal Affairs in Versailles, with Michel Auclair, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jean-Louis Barrault, Bourvil, Gino Cervi, Claudette Colbert, Nicole Courcel, Daniel Gélin, Jean Marais, Gisèle Pascal, Édith Piaf, Gérard Philipe, Micheline Presle, Tino Rossi, Orson Welles, and Nicole Maurey. The film was the #1 movie in France in 1954. It is still one of the 100 most successful films at the French box office of all time, the 89th highest grossing title.
In 1955 her song "Fleur de Papillon" became a hit. She also starred in two motion pictures. First, Hello Smile ! directed by Claude Sautet, with Henri Salvador, Louis de Funès, Darry Cowl and Jean Carmet and an Italian comedy, Beautiful but Dangerous, in which she just made a short appearance.
In 1956 she starred as Cri-Cri in Le Chanteur de Mexico, directed by Richard Pottier, with Luis Mariano, Bourvil, and Fernando Rey. The film was again a big success, with almost 5,000,000 tickets sold, and it was #5 at the box office for 1956 and #247 of all time in France.
At the same time she had a hit on the song charts with the French version of The Ballad of Davy Crockett, which stayed at number 1 for 5 weeks in France in August 1956.
In 1957 she played Titine in a West German remake of Victor and Victoria, directed by Karl Anton. That same year, she starred in her second musical, "Tête de linotte" with Jean Richard which lasted until 1960. ...
Source: Article "Annie Cordy" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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Chad Lail
Biography
Chad Lail is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time in WWE under the ring name Jaxson Ryker.
After serving in the Iraq War, Lail started his professional wrestling career in 2001, working as Phil Shatter on several independent promotions. He would be signed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2010, where he changed his ring name to Gunner and was presented as a member of the villainous group Immortal. During his time in the group, he won the TNA Television Championship once. After leaving the group, he would work as a tag team and singles wrestler, most notably as tag team partner and rival of James Storm, winning the TNA World Tag Team Championship with him.
Lail left TNA in 2015 and two years later in 2017, he signed a contract with WWE. He was assigned to the farm territory NXT, where he changed his name to Jaxson Ryker. In 2018, he joined Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake as The Forgotten Sons. In April 2020, the stable began working on SmackDown but his two stablemates were released. Ryker kept working with WWE until November 2021, when he was released.
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Marvin Jones III
Biography
Marvin Jones III (born July 9, 1976), also known as Krondon, is an American rapper and actor from Los Angeles, California. He is a member of the group Strong Arm Steady, along with rappers Phil Da Agony and Mitchy Slick. As an actor, Jones is known primarily for portraying albinos and supervillains, such as Tobias Whale in The CW's superhero television series Black Lightning, and Tombstone in the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as the live-action MCU film Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Krondon, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Simon Lazenby
Biography
Simon Lazenby is a British television presenter renowned for his role as the lead presenter of Formula 1 coverage on Sky Sports. He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Natural Sciences, where he also played as a scrum-half for the university's rugby team and captained his college team, St. Hild and St. Bede. Lazenby began his career at Sky Sports in 2002, initially focusing on live Rugby Union coverage. In 2012, he transitioned to Formula 1, becoming the anchor for Sky Sports F1 since the channel's inception. Throughout his tenure, he has presented live coverage of over 160 Grands Prix, working alongside former drivers and commentators such as Johnny Herbert, Martin Brundle, Damon Hill, and Jenson Button. Known for his calm demeanor and dry sense of humor, Lazenby has become a familiar face to Formula 1 fans, providing insightful commentary and interviews from the paddock. He resides in Wimbledon, South West London, with his wife and two children. Outside of his broadcasting career, Lazenby enjoys playing golf and the piano.
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Tetsuya Chiba
Biography
Tetsuya Chiba (千葉 徹彌 or ちばてつや Chiba Tetsuya, born January 11, 1939) is a Japanese manga artist famous for his sports stories. He was born in Chuo, Tokyo, Japan, but lived most of his early childhood in Shenyang, Liaoning when northeast China was colonized by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. His father was working in a paper factory when they lived in China. Two of his younger brothers are manga artists: Akio Chiba, and Shigeyuki Chiba who is almost completely unknown outside Japan, despite writing many popular sports manga in Japan. Shigeyuki Chiba works under the pen name Taro Nami. Chiba's works include Tomorrow's Joe, his best known work. Many of his early titles are still in print due to continued popularity. He lives in Nerima, Tokyo.
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Barbara Cartland
Biography
Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, DBE, DStJ (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily during the Victorian or Edwardian period. Cartland is one of the best-selling authors worldwide of the 20th century.
Many of her novels have been adapted into films for television including A Hazard of Hearts, A Ghost in Monte Carlo and Duel of Hearts.
Her novels have been translated from English into numerous languages, making Cartland the fifth most translated author worldwide (note: not including biblical works). Her prolific output totals some 723 novels.
Although best known for her romantic novels, she also wrote non-fiction titles including biographies, plays, music, verse, drama, operettas, and several health and cook books. She also contributed advice to TV audiences and newspaper magazine articles.
She sold more than 750 million copies of her books, though other sources estimate her total sales at more than two billion. The covers of her novels featured portrait-style artwork, usually designed by Francis Marshall (1901–1980).
Cartland was also a businesswoman who was head of Cartland Promotions. She was a London society figure, often dressed in a pink chiffon gown, a plumed hat, blonde wig, and heavy make-up.
Born at 31 Augustus Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, Cartland was the only daughter and eldest child of an Officer of the British Army, Major James Bertram "Bertie" Falkner Cartland (1876–1918), and his wife, Mary Hamilton Scobell, known as "Polly" (1877–1976). Cartland had two brothers: Major Ronald Cartland, a Member of Parliament (MP) who served as a Army Major in World War II (1907–1940), and James Anthony "Tony" Hamilton Cartland (1912–1940). Both were killed in action in Flanders.
Though she was born into upper middle-class comfort, the Cartland family's finances rapidly deteriorated shortly after her birth. Cartland would later attribute this downturn to the suicide of her paternal grandfather, James Cartland, who, she stated, was a financier who shot himself in the wake of bankruptcy. However, according to the entry in the probate registry, James Cartland, the proprietor of the brass foundry firm James Cartland & Son Ltd, left an estate of £92,000. This was followed soon afterwards by her father's death in Berry-au-Bac in World War I. Cartland's mother opened a London dry goods store to make ends meet, and to raise Cartland and her two brothers.
Cartland was educated at private girls' schools: The Alice Ottley School, Malvern Girls' College, and Abbey House, an educational institution in Hampshire. She became successful as a society reporter after 1922, and a writer of romantic fiction; she stated she was inspired in her early work by the novels of the Edwardian author Elinor Glyn, whom she idolised and eventually befriended. ...
Source: Article "Barbara Cartland" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
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Goran Višnjić
Biography
Goran Višnjić (born September 9, 1972) is a Croatian-born American actor who has appeared in American and British films and TV. He is best known for his role as Dr. Luka Kovač on the hit television series ER. He's also known for his roles as Erik the Red on the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla, Garcia Flynn on NBC's Timeless, John Woods on CBS's Extant, Marco Costanteon NBC's Crossing Lines, Nicholae Schiller on ABC's Red Widow, Dragan Armansky in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), voice of Soto in Ice Age, Jimmy Angelo in Practical Magic, and Bazta Sergeant in The Peacemaker.
He grew up in Sibenik, Croatia (then Yugoslavia), a port town on the Adriatic Sea, where he decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor. He first performed in local theater groups and then entered the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Goran gained popularity in Croatia when, at the age of 21, he was cast as Hamlet in the prestigious Dubrovnik Summer Festival’s staging of Shakespeare’s play. His performance earned him three national Best Actor awards, including an Orlando (the Croatian equivalent of a Tony). He made his American motion-picture debut in the "Welcome to Sarajevo," drama, directed by Michael Winterbottom.
In his leisure time, he enjoys fencing, swimming and diving. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Eva, and their three children.
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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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Hala Ayoub
Biography
Hala Ayoub is a Lebanese actress and beauty queen who gained recognition after being named First Runner-Up at the Mrs. Lebanon 2017 pageant, where she also won the title of Mrs. Elegance. She is best known for her performance in the independent Lebanese film Yusuf (2021), and has appeared in other works such as Jana (2019) and Atel Aan Al Hurriya (2014). Her on-screen presence blends elegance with emotional depth. Ayoub has also participated in television interviews and maintains an active presence on social media platforms, where she engages with her audience and supports cultural and artistic events in Lebanon and the Arab world.
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