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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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Velvet McIntyre
Biography
Velvet McIntyre is an Irish-Canadian retired professional wrestler. After beginning her career in 1980, she wrestled in American independent promotions before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). She had rivalries with both The Fabulous Moolah and Sherri Martel and held the WWF Women's Championship and WWF Women's Tag Team Championship. After the WWF's women's division went on hiatus in the 1990s, McIntyre wrestled in several Canadian promotions, holding several championships.
McIntyre wore wrestling boots for the first four years of her career, but later wrestled barefoot when someone took one of her boots as a joke and she was forced to wrestle without them.[1] Wrestling barefoot subsequently became one of her trademarks, as well as her high flying wrestling maneuvers.
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Gianfranco Baldanello
Biography
Gianfranco Baldanello was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and second unit director, sometimes credited as Frank G. Carroll. He was the son of actors Emilio Baldanello and Vanda Vianello. Baldanello began his career in the film industry in the early 1950s, working as an assistant director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with 30 Winchester per El Diablo (1965), a Spaghetti Western that marked the beginning of his work in the genre. Baldanello directed several Westerns, including Kill Johnny Ringo (1966) and Long Days of Hate (1968). His films are characterized by their action sequences and adherence to genre conventions, contributing to the popularity of Spaghetti Westerns during the 1960s.
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Carolin Fink
Biography
Carolin Fink ist als Tochter der Burgschauspielerin Sonja Sutter und des Festspielarztes Dr. Fink am Heilig Abend 1966 in Salzburg geboren. Neben ihrer Schulausbildung an einem musischen Gymnasium studierte sie schon in jungen Jahren Klavier am Mozarteum Salzburg bei Prof. Lazlo Pogany und Prof. Kurt Neumüller.
Ihre Schauspielausbidung begann sie am Max Reinhardt Seminar Wien, die sie dann an der Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch Berlin fortsetzte. Es folgten Engagements am Staatstheater Wiesbaden, am Residenztheater München und Besetzungen in TV und Film.
Ihre Liebe zur Musik und dem Gesang ist ungebrochen. So spielte und sang sie beispielsweise anlässlich des Haydn-Gedenkjahres in der Produktion »Liebe Grüße an alle schönen Weiber« an der Münchener Kammeroper.
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László Szilassy
Biography
Hungarian actor born in 1908 in Hungary. He studied law in Budapest, and after 7 semesters he became the secretary of Károly Szalay's company. His acting career also began here. In 1933–34 he performed in the company of József Kallós, in 1934–35 in Szeged, in 1935–36 in the association of Imre Miklósy, and in 1936–37 in Debrecen. Between 1937 and 1939 he was a member of the Belvárosi Színház, in 1939–40 of the Magyar and Andrássy Színház, and between 1940 and 1942 of the Pest and Vígszínház. He did not have a permanent contract thereafter. In 1942–43 he performed as a guest at the Budapest Operettszínház. He emigrated in 1944, first living in Brazil from 1946 and then settling in Argentina. In 1950 he was a guest of the Hungarian Acting Society of Argentina, and from 1951 he became a member. In 1960, he moved to Brazil again. Thanks to his good looks, he was frequently cast as the love interest in plays. He has also appeared in films in the 1940s. He died in 1972 due to cancer in São Paulo.
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Jorge Ben Jor
Biography
Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes (born March 22, 1939) is a Brazilian popular musician, performing under the stage name Jorge Ben Jor since the 1980s, though commonly known by his former stage name Jorge Ben. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, rock and bossa nova with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter. His hits include "Chove Chuva", "Mas, que Nada!", "Ive Brussel" and "Balança Pema", and have been interpreted by artists such as Caetano Veloso, Sérgio Mendes, Miriam Makeba, Soulfly and Marisa Monte. Ben's broad-minded and original approach to samba led him through participation in some of Brazilian popular music's most important musical movements, such as bossa nova, Jovem Guarda, and Tropicália, with the latter period defined by his albums Jorge Ben (1969) and Fôrça Bruta (1970). He has been called "the father of samba rock", by Billboard magazine. According to American music critic Robert Christgau, Ben and his contemporary Gilberto Gil were "always ready to go further out on a beat than the other samba/bossa geniuses".
Born Jorge Duílio Lima Menezes in Rio de Janeiro, he first took the stage name Jorge Ben after his mother's name (Sílvia Saint Ben Lima, Brazilian-born of Ethiopian origin) but in the 1980s changed it to Jorge Ben Jor (commonly written Benjor).
Jorge Ben obtained his first pandeiro (Brazil's most popular type of tambourine) when he was thirteen, and two years later, was singing in a church choir. He also took part as a pandeiro player in the blocos of Carnaval, and from eighteen years of age, he began performing at parties and nightclubs with the guitar given to him by his mother. He was given the nickname "Babulina" after his enthusiastic pronunciation of rockabilly singer Ronnie Self's song "Bop-A-Lena". Was introduced to Tim Maia by Erasmo Carlos. It was in 1963 at one of those clubs in which he performed that Jorge's musical career took off; he came on stage and sang "Mas, que Nada!" to a small crowd that happened to include an executive from the recording company, Philips. One week later, Jorge Ben's first single was released.
The hybrid rhythms that Jorge employed brought him some problems at the start of his career, when Brazilian music was split between the rockier sounds of the Jovem Guarda and traditional samba with its complex lyrics. However, as that phase in Brazilian pop music history passed and bossa nova became better known throughout the world, Ben rose to prominence.
Holdings both television programs O Fino da Bossa and Jovem Guarda from Rede Record, after being reprimanded by the production of "O Fino da Bossa", chose to participate in the Jovem Guarda, soon after, joined the program Divino, Maravilhoso from TV Tupi, presented by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. ...
Source: Article "Jorge Ben" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Trần Vân
Biography
Trần Vân (born in Hanoi, 1952 - 1994) was a Vietnamese actor. He was most famous nationwide during the 1980s. Trần Vân is remembered for his stage roles with the Vietnam Theater Troupe and his charming, gentle and homely screen persona in the films "Nesting Season in Hanoi" (Hà Nội mùa chim làm tổ, d. Đức Hoàn, 1978); "That Day on the Lam River" (Ngày ấy bên sông Lam, d. Nguyễn Ngọc Trung, 1980); "There's a Love Like That" (Có một tình yêu như thế, d. Lê Hữu Lương, 1989); etc.
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Sidney Lumet
Biography
Sidney Lumet (June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his name. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976) and The Verdict (1982). He did not win an individual Academy Award, although he did receive an Academy Honorary Award and 14 of his films were nominated for various Oscars, such as Network, which was nominated for 10, winning 4.
The Encyclopedia of Hollywood states that Lumet was one of the most prolific directors of the modern era, making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. He was noted by Turner Classic Movies for his "strong direction of actors", "vigorous storytelling" and the "social realism" in his best work. Film critic Roger Ebert described him as having been "one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors." Lumet was also known as an "actor's director," having worked with the best of them during his career, probably more than "any other director."
Lumet began his career as an Off-Broadway director, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie was typical of his best work: a well-acted, tightly written, deeply considered "problem picture," 12 Angry Men (1957). From that point on Lumet divided his energies among other idealistic problem pictures along with literate adaptations of plays and novels, big stylish pictures, New York-based black comedies, and realistic crime dramas, including Serpico and Prince of the City. As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he was also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies. In 2005, Lumet received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his "brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture." Two years later, he concluded his career with the acclaimed drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007).
Description above from the Wikipedia article Sidney Lumet, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Anaïs Croze
Biography
Anaïs, full name Anaïs Croze (born August 20, 1976), is a French singer. Her first album, called The Cheap Show, was recorded live in January 2004 and released in 2005. The Cheap Show, a pun on "peep-show", is titled such as she is the only musician on stage and makes extensive use of her JamMan pedal.
Anaïs was born in Grenoble and grew up in Marseille; she studied English in Aix-en-Provence. She was the lead singer, composer and lyricist in Opossum from 1999 to late 2002 when the renowned band split after about 200 gigs in France, Switzerland and even Germany, and a seven-track CD called Excuse-moi, j'voulais te d'mander (Sorry, I Wanted To Ask You). Anaïs then went on a successful solo tour in March 2003 with personal songs and characters full of wit and energy. Her show, the Cheap Show, was based on raw rock energy, minimalism and stand-up, a guitar and a loop pedal she used for voice only.
She is also famous for her elastic voice, imitating or simply paying live tributes to well-known and established Francophone singers like Francis Cabrel, Eddy Mitchell, Latin (Shakira), American (N.E.R.D, Kelis), Italian-born Carla Bruni or French Canadian Lynda Lemay, and poking fun, among others, at teenage flirts (Mon cœur, mon amour), Scottish or New Orleans folklore, and various accents ranging from typical Scots to Québécois. Anaïs, who started singing as a child in a choir and has always wanted to be an actress and more recently a film director, could be described as a modern trobairitz inasmuch as she not only sings about herself and the world around her but also acts and plays the parts of caricatured stereotypes of our times. Although her main concerns seem to be love (Christina), she also tackles more serious problems, but on a light and funny note as ever, like racism (Elle sort qu'avec des blacks), depression and solitude (La vie est dure). Her musical style is a happy mixture of folk, pop blues, chanson, rap and even raggamuffin and heavy metal.
Her self-acknowledged influences are quite eclectic: Judy Garland and Bette Midler for their music hall artistry; Jerry Lee Lewis for his rough or/and country music side; Brenda Kahn for derision; Canadian Peaches for minimalism; Chris Isaak and others like Etta James; the Beach Boys; Marie Dubas, a French interwar cabaret entertainer whom she quite resembles and describes as "a true hurricane of a woman"; and the White Stripes because "they understood everything about blues and rock". Although Anaïs did learn musical theory and the violin as a little girl, and later the clarinet, she now confesses she can only play the guitar for her own songs and does not even know the names of chords and tunings! This relative innocence is undeniably part of her charm and talent, and only adds to the magic of her songs. Her irresistible sense of humour and interactive stage performances make Anaïs a promising and original chanteuse, whose self-produced album and refreshing TV appearances have been praised by the public and professionals alike. ...
Source: Article "Anaïs Croze" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Kris Rey
Biography
Kris Rey (born Kristin Williams, November 11, 1980) is an American businesswoman, filmmaker and actress. Her works as a director include the short documentary Bathwater (2006), the Nerve.com documentary web series Boys and Girls and the feature films It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (2009), Empire Builder (2012), Unexpected (2015) and I Used to Go Here (2020). She has also had small roles in a number of films, including First Man (2018). From 2007 to 2019 she was married to filmmaker Joe Swanberg. The two co-directed, co-produced and co-starred in the 2006-2009 Nerve.com web series Young American Bodies; she also had acting roles in a number of his films.
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