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Gary Lachman
Biography
Gary Joseph Lachman (born December 24, 1955), also known as Gary Valentine, is an American writer and musician. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s as the bass guitarist for rock band Blondie. Since the 1990s, Lachman has written full-time, often about mysticism and occultism.
Lachman joined Blondie in spring 1975 after original bassist Fred Smith left to join Television amid founding bassist Richard Hell's departure. He wrote the music to the band's first single, "X-Offender", and popularized the band's sixties-retro look. In 1977 he left the group to form his own band and was replaced by Nigel Harrison, just as Blondie were starting to gain recognition. His song "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear" was a UK top ten hit in 1978, and was subsequently recorded by Tracey Ullman and Annie Lennox.
After Blondie, Lachman moved to Los Angeles and in 1978 released a single, "The First One/Tomorrow Belongs to You" on Beat Records. Shortly after this he formed The Know, with Joel Turrisi and Richard d'Andrea who were the first band to play the infamous Madame Wong's Chinese restaurant-turned-new wave venue. (Lachman's claim to this distinction has been verified by several eyewitnesses.) After a year and a half Joel left the band and was replaced by drummer John McGarvey. In 1980 The Know released a single "I Like Girls/Dreams" on Planet Records and were the only bi-coastal US "power pop" band, developing large followings in New York and Los Angeles. Failing to secure an album deal, he disbanded The Know and in 1981 played guitar with Iggy Pop.
In 1996, after moving to London, he was asked to participate in the Blondie re-union, and in November of that year he recorded one of his songs, "Amor Fati", with Blondie, for their 'comeback' album. In 1997 he performed with Blondie at several major festival concerts in the US. Back in London Lachman worked with former X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic. In 1998 he formed Fire Escape together with violinist Ruth Vaughn and performed songs he had written for the Blondie reunion album (they had not been used due to the band ultimately excluding him from the recording process and the reunion tour). They released an EP to little fanfare and went on a permanent hiatus after two years.
A compilation of Lachman's work in music entitled Tomorrow Belongs to You featuring recordings by The Know and Fire Escape, was released in 2003 on the UK label Overground Records.
In 2006, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a former member of Blondie, although vocalist Debbie Harry prohibited Lachman and other ex-members from performing with the current line-up at the ceremony. ...
Source: Article "Gary Lachman" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Orlando Bloom
Biography
Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Copeland Bloom (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He made his breakthrough as the character Legolas in The Lord of the Rings film series (2001–03). He reprised his role in The Hobbit film series (2013–14). Considered by some to be the Errol Flynn of his time, he gained further notice appearing in epic fantasy, historical, and adventure films, notably as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2003–07, 2017), Paris in Troy (2004), Balian de Ibelin in the Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers(2011).
Bloom appeared in Hollywood films such as the war film Black Hawk Down (2001), the Australian Western Ned Kelly (2003), the romantic comedy Elizabethtown (2005), and New York, I Love You(2007). In 2020, he gained acclaim for the Afghanistan War drama film The Outpost (2020). He also starred in the Amazon Prime Video series Carnival Row (2019–2023).
He debuted professionally in In Celebration at the Duke of York's Theatre in the West End in 2007. He starred in an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 2013. He returned to the theatre in a West End revival of Tracy Letts' Killer Joe in 2018. In 2009, Bloom was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. In 2015, he received the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award.
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Tara Rule
Biography
Tara Rule is an actress and filmmaker from New York. She has produced, written and directed a number of award winning short films. Tara is an activist and disability rights advocate. She suffers from a rare genetic disorder called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Tara stars in a number of features set to premiere in 2024. Her first feature film, OURSELVES, is in post production and is scheduled to premiere in 2024. Rule's ongoing documentary series titled, Chronically Corrupt which outlines the dark undercurrents of the health care system in the United States was featured at SXSW in 2023.
Rule is also known for her visual art and content creation on social media.
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Hideki Matsui
Biography
Hideki Matsui (松井 秀喜, Matsui Hideki, born June 12, 1974), nicknamed "Godzilla", is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter who played baseball in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) and Major League Baseball (MLB). He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.
Matsui played the first 10 seasons of his career in Japan for NPB's Yomiuri Giants. During that span, he was a nine-time All-Star, three-time Japan Series champion, and three-time Central League Most Valuable Player (MVP). In 2003, Matsui transitioned to playing in MLB in North America, and spent his first seven seasons there with the New York Yankees. As a Yankee, he was a two-time All-Star and 2009 World Series champion, for which he was named the World Series MVP. After becoming a free agent, Matsui had one-year stints with three other MLB teams: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Oakland Athletics, and Tampa Bay Rays. On July 28, 2013, Matsui signed a one-day minor league contract with the Yankees in order to officially retire with the team.
During his 20-year playing career, Matsui hit 507 home runs—332 in NPB and 175 in MLB. In 2018, Matsui was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Hideki Matsui, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Howlin' Wolf
Biography
Howlin' Wolf, born Chester Arthur Burnett, was widely regarded as one of the most influential American blues musicians of the 20th century.
Burnett was an acclaimed blues and rock singer, guitarist and harmonica player and became known as Howlin' Wolf due to his unique singing style. Burnett was an indispensable part of the transformation of acoustic Delta blues into electric Chicago blues. He was a contemporary of Muddy Waters and the two shared a mock rivalry that they invented for artistic and commercial purposes.
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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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Florin Salam
Biography
Florin Salam (real name: Florin Stoian) is one of the most famous and appreciated manele and party music singers from Romania.Date of birth: October 1, 1979 (Bucharest, Romania).Brief BiographyThe Debut: He started his musical career at a young age, coming from a family with a traditional lăutari (folk musician) background.The Rise: He became famous in the early 2000s under the name "Florin Fermecătoru'" (Florin the Charming).The Hits: He later released massive hits that defined the manele industry.The Success: He collaborated with numerous top artists and brought a modern style to party music.Personal Life: He went through personal tragedies but remained a constant and influential presence in the Balkan musical landscape.
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Stephen Carpenter
Biography
Stephen "Steph" Carpenter (/ˈstɛfən/ STEF-ən; born August 3, 1970) is an American musician, known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative metal band Deftones.
His guitar technique makes use of both ringing open strings and dissonant chord voicings, as well as stock power chords in polyrhythms. Carpenter began his musical career with Deftones playing the traditional six-string guitar. After becoming influenced by such bands as Fear Factory and Meshuggah, he began playing a seven-string guitar in the late 1990s. After Deftones' third album White Pony, subsequent releases would be written with seven-strings, until 2010's Diamond Eyes and 2012's Koi No Yokan, which were written with an eight-string guitar. Starting with 2020’s Ohms, songs have been written with nine-string guitars. Carpenter was ranked 60th in Guitar World's The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists poll.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Stephen Carpenter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Chung King-Fai
Biography
Chung King-Fai (鍾景輝) is a Hong Kong stage, film and television actor. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, he lived in Taishan, China and later in Hong Kong. After graduating from Pui Ching Middle School (香港培正中學) in Hong Kong, he majored in English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then moved to the United States to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama at the Oklahoma Baptist University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale University's School of Drama. Back in Hong Kong, he worked a teacher at Baptist College, and as an actor and television producer for Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) and later Asia Television Limited (ATV). In 1983, he was appointed the founding Dean of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performance Arts and remained in the post for 18 years.
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Kris Kristofferson
Biography
Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American country singer, songwriter, and actor. Among his songwriting credits are "Me and Bobby McGee," "For the Good Times," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and "Help Me Make It Through the Night," all of which were hits for other artists.
In 1985, Kristofferson joined fellow country artists Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash in the country music supergroup The Highwaymen, which was a key creative force in the outlaw country music movement that eschewed the traditional Nashville country music machine in favor of independent songwriting and producing.
As an actor, Kristofferson was known for his roles in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), Blume in Love (1973), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), A Star Is Born (1976) (which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor), Convoy (1978), Heaven's Gate (1980), Stagecoach (1986), Lone Star (1996), and the Blade film trilogy (1998–2004).
In 2004, Kristofferson was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Kris Kristofferson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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