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Larry Semon
Biography
American silent film comedian whose hugely successful career disappeared virtually overnight, Larry Semon was the son of a traveling vaudeville magician, Zera the Great. He grew up in show business and was trained in stage comedy and acrobatics. A talent for drawing and cartooning led to art school and then work as a cartoonist for various New York City newspapers. The humor evident in his published cartoons prompted executives at New York's Vitagraph Studios to hire him as a gag writer in 1916. He quickly proved himself and was promoted to director for the Hughie Mack series of comedies. His background in magic helped him create interesting new gags for the comedian. When Mack left the studio in 1917, Semon took over the starring role himself. His one-reelers were quite successful, and Vitagraph sent him to California to participate in its new West Coast operation. He produced as well as wrote, starred in and directed his own films, at the same time also producing films for other comics.
In the summer of 1928 Semon apparently fell ill with tuberculosis and simultaneously, it seems, suffered a nervous breakdown. He entered a sanitarium near San Bernardino, CA, where he reportedly died on October 8. However, an air of mystery surrounds his death, since his wife (and former co-star) Dorothy Dwan was allowed almost no contact with him and never saw his body, which was ordered cremated after a tightly secured funeral, which was carried out per Semon's "previous instructions" and to which almost no attendees were allowed. The whereabouts of Semon's cremated remains are to this day a mystery, and his widow professed until her death to be mystified by the circumstances of his passing. With enormous financial obligations facing him Larry Semon could easily have considered a dramatic escape of this sort from his creditors. Whether he did, or whether his death was the sad final chapter to a high-rising, briefly brilliant, but ultimately short-lived career may never be known for certain.
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Aisin-Gioro Puyi
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Puyi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China. He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to rule over China.
He was married to the Empress Gobulo Wan Rong under the suggestion of the Imperial Dowager Concubine Duan-Kang. Later, between 1934 and 1945, he was the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo. In the People's Republic of China, he was a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 1964 until his death in 1967. His abdication was a symbol of the end of a long era in China, and he is widely known as The Last Emperor.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Puyi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Asami
Biography
Asami Sugiura was only nineteen when she starred in Kiss Me Or Kill Me: Todokanakutemo Aaishiteru. This film clearly marked the beginning of her career, as she went on to take on roles in a variety of productions: exploitation films, adult films, gravure idol photoshoots, and action films.
After obtaining her parents' consent, she chose not to pursue university studies. Before breaking into cinema, she had worked in several jobs: waitress, telemarketer, and pachinko parlor employee. A friend introduced her to the film industry, where she seized the opportunity to play a role that required nude scenes.
In 2005, she was offered modeling contracts for specialized magazines and studios. In 2006, she changed agents twice and opted for a career under the simple first name of Asami, before returning to her full name in 2008, then switching back to Asami for good in 2009.
It was with Machine Girl that she achieved wider fame. The film, which has become a cult classic, left a lasting impression: was it her piercing gaze, her legs molded into a miniskirt, her unbridled audacity, or her arms transformed into weapons? In any case, this role made her an icon.
In 2007, she met director Noboru Iguchi, with whom she would collaborate on several occasions. After appearing in numerous pink and pornographic films, she announced in 2008 that she would be gradually withdrawing from this genre to devote herself to mainstream cinema—without, however, giving up daring roles.
In 2014, her talent was recognized with a special award at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan.
Passionate about reptiles, cinema, and karaoke, Asami Sugiura also plays the piano and saxophone. She has also published several books of photographs featuring herself.
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Sam Heughan
Biography
Sam graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2003. He was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Award (Most Promising Performance) for Outlying Islands at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs.
Sam has appeared in various TV programmes including: A Very British Sex Scandal (Channel 4), Any Human Heart (Film4), Midsomer Murders (ITV) and as a regular character in BBC Soaps River City and Doctors.
His film leads include: Young Alexander The Great (Ilya Salkind Company) and Emulsion (White Lantern Films), while theatre credits include: Plague Over England (Duchess, West End), MacBeth (Nottingham, Edinburgh Lyceum), Romeo And Juliet (Dundee Rep) and Hamlet (Citizens Glasgow).
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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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Darling Krishna
Biography
Sunil Kumar N, popularly known with stage name Darling Krishna, is an actor who primarily acts in Kannada films. He started his career as assistant director for Duniya suri for the movie jackie and later in hudugaru.then he acted in Kannada serial Krishna rukmini where he played the lead role of Krishna and the serial was so popular that people started calling by his on-screen name Krishna which eventually became his official screen name. Krishna's major breakthrough as an actor came with superhit film Madarangi. He hails from mysore, holds an MBA and is the son of Nagappa, a retired Police officer.
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Arielle Kebbel
Biography
Arielle Caroline Kebbel (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and model. She has appeared in various television series, including Gilmore Girls (2003–2004), The Vampire Diaries (2009–2017), Life Unexpected (2010), 90210 (2011–2013), Ballers (2015–2016, 2019), Midnight Texas (2017–2018), and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector (2019–2020). Kebbel has also appeared in films such as American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005), John Tucker Must Die (2006), The Grudge 2 (2006), Forever Strong (2008), The Uninvited (2009), Think Like a Man (2012), Fifty Shades Freed (2018) and After Ever Happy (2022).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Arielle Kebbel, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Ken Takakura
Biography
Ken Takakura (高倉 健, Takakura Ken), born Gouichi Oda (February 16, 1931, in Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan), was a Japanese actor best known for his brooding style and the stoic presence he brings to his roles. Takakura gained his streetwise swagger and tough-guy persona watching yakuza turf battles over the lucrative black market and racketeering in postwar Fukuoka. This subject was covered in one of his most famous movies, Showa Zankyo-den (Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa Era), in which he played an honorable old-school yakuza among the violent post-war gurentai.
A graduate of Meiji University in Tokyo Takakura happened by an audition in 1955 at the Toei Film Company, and decided to look in. Toei found a natural in Takakura as he debuted with Denko Karate Uchi (Lightning Karate Blow) in 1956. Japan experienced a boom in gangster films in the 1960s as the Japanese people struggled with the generational differences between those raised in pre-war and post-war Japan and these were Takakura's stock and trade. His breakout role would be in the 1965 film Abashiri Prison, and its sequel Abashiri Bangaichi: Bokyohen (Abashiri Prison: Longing for Home, also 1965), in which he played an ex-con antihero. By the time Takakura would leave Toei in 1976, he had appeared in over 180 films.
Takakura gained international recognition after starring in the 1970 war film Too Late the Hero as the cunning Imperial Japanese Major Yamaguchi, the 1975 Sydney Pollack sleeper hit The Yakuza with Robert Mitchum and is probably best known in the West for his role in Ridley Scott's Black Rain (1989) where he surprises American cops played by Michael Douglas and Andy García with the line, "I do speak fucking English". He again proved himself bankable to Western audiences with the 1992 Fred Schepisi comedy Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck.
While he has slowed down a bit in his older years, he is still active. His most recent film was the 2005 Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles by Chinese director Zhang Yimou.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Ken Takakura, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Kyle Richards
Biography
Kyle Richards (born January 11, 1969) is an American actress and television personality. She is known for her few roles in horror movies as Eaten Alive, Halloween (1978) and The Car. She's also part of Bravo's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and reprised her role of Lindsey Wallace in Halloween Kills in 2021 and Halloween Ends in 2022. She graduated from Central Union High School in El Centro, California in 1987. She is also the sister of actress Kim Richards and the aunt of Paris Hilton.
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Alan Ritchson
Biography
Alan Michael Ritchson (born November 28, 1982) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Aquaman / Arthur Curry on The CW superhero series Smallville (2005–10), where he appeared as a guest star between the fifth and 10th seasons. He subsequently had a starring role in the Spike TV sitcom Blue Mountain State (2010–2012), a role he reprised in the 2016 film sequel. He also headlined the SyFy action series Blood Drive (2017), and returned to superhero television as Hank Hall / Hawk on the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans from 2018 to 2021. He gained wider recognition for portraying the title character in the ongoing Amazon Prime Video action thriller series Reacher since 2022.
Outside television, Ritchson played Raphael in the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot and its 2016 sequel, along with appearances in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), Lazer Team (2015), and Fast X (2023). He made his directorial debut and co-starred in the action-comedy Dark Web: Cicada 3301 (2021).
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