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Matthew Holness
Biography
Born in Whitstable, Kent in 1975, Matthew Holness is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is best known for his comic creation, the fictional horror novelist Garth Marenghi. He read English at Trinity College, Cambridge and was vice-president of the Cambridge Footlights. His contemporaries included Footlights president, David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Olivia Colman and his Marenghi co-writer Richard Ayoade. Holness first appeared on television as a cast-member of the 2000 BBC Choice TV series Bruiser, which starred Mitchell, Webb, Colman and Martin Freeman. In that same year he won the Perrier at the Edinburgh Fringe for Garty Marenghi's Fright Night, which was transferred to UK television in the guise of the 2004 Channel 4 horror comedy Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Other credits include 2006's Man to Man with Dean Learner, several productions with Ricky Gervais such as The Office, Life's Too Short and Cemetery Junction, and the 2017 Channel 4 sitcom Back which starred Mitchell and Webb. In 2018 he made his feature length directorial debut with the film Possum, having previously helmed short films The Snipist and A Gun For George.
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Germán Robles
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Germán Horacio Robles (born March 20, 1929 in Gijón, Asturias, Spain) was a Spanish-Mexican film, theater, television, and voice actor. He came to Mexico when he was 17, after Spain’s civil war. His slim figure contrasts with his deep, calm, elegant voice. In Mexican cinema, he best known for his amazing characterization of vampires in many cult movies, especially in El Vampiro. He is said to have influenced Christopher Lee’s performance in his vampire films. Another well known performance is his dubbing the voice of KITT in the Latin American broadcast of Knight Rider. He died on November 21, 2015 in Mexico City, Mexico.
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Roger Corman
Biography
Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", “The King of The B’s”, "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he was known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film.
Many of the more than 500 features directed or produced by Corman were low-budget films that later attracted a cult following, such as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Intruder (1962), X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), and the counterculture films, The Wild Angels (1966) and The Trip (1967). House of Usher (1960) became the first of eight films directed by Corman that were adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and which collectively came to be known as the "Poe Cycle".
In 1964, Corman became the youngest filmmaker to have a retrospective at the Cinémathèque française, as well as in the British Film Institute and the Museum of Modern Art. He was the co-founder of New World Pictures, the founder of New Concorde and was a longtime member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2009, he was awarded an Academy Honorary Award "for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers".
Corman was also famous for handling the U.S. distribution of many films by noted foreign directors, including Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored and gave a start to many young film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles, and James Cameron, and was highly influential in the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner.
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Björn Ulvaeus
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Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia! He co-produced the films Mamma Mia! and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again with fellow ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson. He is the oldest member of the group.
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg on 25 April 1945. In 1951, he moved with his family to Västervik, Kalmar County. His parents were Aina Eliza Viktoria (née Bengtsson; 1909–2005) and Erik Gunnar Ulvaeus (1912–1999). Ulvaeus has one sister, Eva Margareta (born 1948). Ulvaeus studied business and law at Lund University after undertaking his military service, alongside comedian Magnus Holmström.
Before gaining international recognition with ABBA, Ulvaeus was a member of the Swedish folk-schlager band Hootenanny Singers, known earlier as the "West Bay Singers", who had an enormous following in Scandinavia. While on the road in southern Sweden in 1966, they encountered the Hep Stars, and Ulvaeus quickly became friends with the group's keyboard player, Benny Andersson. The two musicians shared a passion for songwriting, and each found a composing partner in the other. On meeting again that summer, they composed their first song together: "Isn't It Easy To Say", a song soon to be recorded by Andersson's group. The two continued teaming up for music, helping out each other's bands in the recording studio, and adding guitar or keyboards respectively to the recordings. In 1968, they composed two songs together: "A Flower in My Garden", recorded by Hep Stars, and their first real hit "Ljuva Sextiotal", for which Stig Anderson wrote lyrics. The latter, a cabarét-style ironic song about the 1960s, was submitted for the 1969 Swedish heats for the Eurovision Song Contest, but was rejected; it was later recorded by diva Brita Borg. Another hit came in 1969 with "Speleman", also recorded by Hep Stars.
While filming a nostalgic schlager special for television in March 1969, Björn met eighteen-year-old future wife and singer-songwriter Agnetha Fältskog.
Björn Ulvaeus continued recording and touring with Hootenanny Singers to great acclaim while working as in-house producer at Polar Record Company (headed by future manager Stig Anderson), with Benny as his new partner. The twosome produced records by other artists and continued writing songs together. Polar artist Arne Lamberts Swedish version of "A Flower in My Garden" ("Fröken Blåklint") was one of Björn & Benny's first in-house productions. In December 1969, they recorded the new song "She's My Kind of Girl", which became their first single as a duo. It was released in March 1970, giving them a minor hit in Sweden and a top-ten hit in Japan two years later.
The Hootenanny Singers entered Svensktoppen, the Swedish radio charts, in 1970 with "Omkring Tiggarn Från Luossa", a cover of an old folk-schlager song. It remained on the charts for 52 consecutive weeks, a record which endured until 1990; the song was produced by Björn and Benny, and had Ulvaeus's solo vocal and Benny's piano. ...
Source: Article "Björn Ulvaeus" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Vince Vaughn
Biography
Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before experiencing wider recognition with the 1996 movie, Swingers.
He has since appeared in numerous films including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, The Cell, Zoolander, Old School, Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Anchorman (1 & 2), Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wedding Crashers, Four Christmases, The Break-Up, Couples Retreat, The Dilemma, The Internship, Hacksaw Ridge, and Freaky, among others.
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Toshihiko Seki
Biography
Toshihiko Seki, born on June 11, 1962, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, is a celebrated Japanese voice actor, actor, singer, and narrator. He has been active in the entertainment industry since 1983 and is affiliated with 81 Produce, a prominent talent agency.
Seki is known for his versatility, often voicing characters with serious or easily agitated personalities, such as Duo Maxwell in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Iruka Umino in Naruto, Kaien Shiba in Bleach and Riki in Ai no Kusabi. He has also portrayed deranged villains like Legato Bluesummers in Trigun and Muzan Kibutsuji in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. One of his most iconic roles is Momotaros in Kamen Rider Den-O, a character he has reprised in numerous productions.
In addition to his work in anime, Seki has contributed to video games, movies, and dubbing. His talent and dedication have earned him recognition, including being ranked as the 9th favorite voice actor in the 26th Annual Reader's Poll by Animage Magazine in 2004.
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Marc Bohan
Biography
Marc Roger Maurice Louis Bohan (22 August 1926 – 6 September 2023) was a French fashion designer, best known for his 30-year career at the house of Dior.
Bohan was born in Paris and grew up in Sceaux. As a child, Marc Bohan was encouraged into fashion by his mother, who worked as a milliner.
After school at the Lycée Lakanal, in 1945 he secured a job at Robert Piguet where he remained for four years.
In 1949 he accepted a job as an assistant to Edward Molyneux. He worked as a designer for Madeleine de Rauch in 1952, before briefly opening his own Paris salon and producing one collection in 1953. In 1954, Bohan was offered a job at Jean Patou, designing the haute couture collection, where he stayed until 1958. In 1991 he was appointed for two years as guest-professor for fashion design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna / Austria.
Designer at Christian Dior
From 1958 to 1960 Bohan designed for the Christian Dior, London line. In September 1960, Dior's creative director Yves Saint Laurent was called up for military service; Bohan was promoted to replace him.
His deceptively simple, elegant designs drew their inspiration from the 1920s, and rejected the extremes of contemporary fashion. One notable collection in 1966 was inspired by the Russian style of Doctor Zhivago.
Bohan's classic pieces are now found in museum collections around the world. In 2009, the Musee Christian Dior at Granville held a major Bohan retrospective.
In 1989 Bohan left Dior, before joining the house of Norman Hartnell in London, where he worked for the label until 1992. Thereafter Bohan designed under his own name.
Bohan designed for Princess Grace of Monaco, Lynn Wyatt, and Betsy Bloomingdale. Princess Grace supported Bohan by opening the Baby Dior boutique in 1967. Actress Sophia Loren was also among his many clients.
Jacqueline Kennedy admired Bohan's designs and had them adapted by Oleg Cassini and Chez Ninon.
In 1976, Bohan was chosen to design the wedding dress of Silvia Sommerlath at her wedding to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Two years later, he designed the wedding gown of Princess Caroline of Monaco for her 1978 wedding to Philippe Junot.
Bohan's first wife, Dominique Gaborit, whom he married in 1950, died in 1962. He then married Huguette Rinjonneau. They had one daughter: Marie-Anne.
Bohan made a home at a restored 18th-century country house in Châtillon-sur-Seine, Burgundy.
Marc Bohan died at his home on 6 September 2023, at the age of 97.
Source: Article "Marc Bohan" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Alain Corneau
Biography
Alain Corneau (7 August 1943 – 30 August 2010) was a French film director and writer.
Corneau was born in Meung-sur-Loire, Loiret. Originally a musician, he worked with Costa-Gavras as an assistant, which was also his first opportunity to work with the actor Yves Montand, with whom he would collaborate three times later in his career, including Police Python 357 (1976) and La Menace (1977).
He directed Gérard Depardieu in the screen adaptation of Tous les matins du monde in 1991.
Corneau died on 30 August 2010 from cancer, and was interred at Pere-Lachaise cemetery.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Alain Corneau, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Diana Lynn
Biography
She was a child prodigy, pianist, at age 10, and her first movie role was one of the children in, "They Shall Have Music" (1939). You see her playing the piano. She made another movie using her 'real name' - Dolly in, "There's Magic in Music" (1941). She signed a long term contract with Paramount in 1942, and had her named changed to Diana Lynn. She had good roles in, "The Major, and the Minor" (1942); "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek", and, "Our Hearts Were Young, and Gay" - both in 1944. She had fewer roles as she matured; she did do, "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951), but had a nice career on TV shows. She died of a stroke when she was making a comeback in film. Her marriages were from 1948 to 1954 to architect John C. Lindsay; no children; then in December 6,1956, she married Mortimer C.Hall, president of L.A. radio station, KLAC. His mother was Dorothy Schiff, publisher then of the 'New York Post'. She had four children with him between 1958, and 1964. They moved to New York City so he could assume a post on his mother's paper. She passed away on December 18, 1971 of a stroke / brain hemorrhage in Los Angeles.
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Sean Connery
Biography
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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