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John Williams
Biography
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer and conductor. In a career that has spanned seven decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scoresin cinema history. He has a distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. He is best known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and has received numerous accolades including 26 Grammy Awards, five Academy Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, three Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. With 54 Academy Award nominations, he is the second-most nominated person, after Walt Disney, and is the oldest Oscar nominee in any category, at 91 years old.
Williams's early work as a film composer includes Valley of the Dolls (1967), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), Images and The Cowboys (both 1972), The Long Goodbye (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974). He has collaborated with Spielberg since The Sugarland Express (1974), composing music for all but five of his feature films. He received five Academy Awards for Best Score for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Schindler's List (1993). Other memorable collaborations with Spielberg include Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), the Indiana Jones franchise (1981–2023), Hook (1991), Jurassic Park (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), and The Fabelmans (2022). He also scored Superman (1978), the first two Home Alone films (1990–1992), and the first three Harry Potter films (2001–2004).
Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993 and is its laureate conductor. Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games; NBC Sunday Night Football; "The Mission" theme (used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia); and the television series Lost in Space, Land of the Giants and Amazing Stories.
Among other accolades, he has received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2004, the National Medal of the Arts in 2009 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1998, the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000 and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2004. He has composed the score for nine of the top 25 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office. In 2022, Williams was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II, "for services to film music". In 2005, the American Film Institute placed Williams's score to Star Wars first on its list AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores; his scores for Jaws and E.T. also made the list. The Library of Congress entered the Star Wars soundtrack into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Description above from the Wikipedia article John Williams, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Michael Wright
Biography
Michael Wright (born April 6, 1956) is an American film and television actor, who is best known for his role as Eddie Kane, Jr. in the 1991 Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats. Wright's body of work in television includes the 1983 NBC science fiction miniseries V, the 1984 sequel "V: The Final Battle" and on "V: The Series" as Elias Taylor, TV series "Miami Vice" 1987 episode "The Savage", and on the 1997 HBO series Oz as Omar White from 2001-2003. And he played "Clinton", the leader of The Del Bombers in the cult film The Wanderers. Wright's film roles include the 1987 drama The Principal as Victor Duncan, also starring James Belushi, and the 1994 film Sugar Hill with Wesley Snipes, his most recent film is 2005's The Interpreter. He has also made guest appearances on other TV shows including New York Undercover. In 1982, he starred in Peter Byrne's production of Barrie Keefe's play Barbarians at the SoHo Rep Theater with Gregg Martin and the as yet unknown actor Kevin Spacey.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Wright (actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Dr. John
Biography
Malcolm 'Mac' John Rebennack Jr., better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music combined blues, pop, jazz, boogie-woogie, funk, and rock and roll.
Active as a session musician from the late 1950s until his death, he gained a following in the late 1960s after the release of his album Gris-Gris and his appearance at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music. He typically performed a lively, theatrical stage show inspired by medicine shows, Mardi Gras costumes, and voodoo ceremonies. Rebennack recorded thirty studio albums and nine live albums, as well as contributing to thousands of other musicians' recordings. In 1973 he achieved a top-10 hit single with "Right Place, Wrong Time".
The winner of six Grammy Awards, Rebennack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by singer John Legend in March 2011. In May 2013, Rebennack received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from Tulane University.
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Lamberto Bava
Biography
Lamberto Bava was born in Rome, Italy, and was the first of a third generation of Italian filmmakers. His grandfather, Eugenio Bava (1886-1966), was a cameraman and optics effects artist during the early days of Italian silent cinema. His father, Mario Bava (1914-1980), was a legendary cinematographer, special effects designer and director. Lamberto entered the cinema as his father's personal assistant, starting with "Planet of the Vampires" (1965). Bit by bit he gained experience from his father, who made him the assistant director for most of the rest of his films. He even co-wrote the screenplay for "Shock" (1977), Mario's last theatrical film where, in poor health during the shoot, Mario often feigned illness so Lamberto could direct a few scenes, uncredited, to gain further experience.
Both Lamberto and Mario directed the made-for-TV drama "I giochi del diavolo: La Venere d'Ille" (1979). Both worked on the Dario Argento horror flick "Inferno" (1980), for which Mario designed some of the color set pieces, including the underwater ballroom, and created all the visual special effects, while Lamberto worked as Argento's assistant director. Late in 1979 Lamberto made his solo directorial debut with "Macabre" (1980), a tense drama-horror flick loosely based on a 1977 incident in New Orleans about a woman who keeps her lover's severed head in her freezer. According to Lamberto, the project started by chance when producer Pupi Avati approached him to direct as well as write the screenplay, which took just six weeks to write and direct. "Macabre" was released in Italy in February 1980 to mixed reviews, but won him recognition by his father Mario. Just two months later Mario Bava died, and an era in Italian film making came to a close.
"Macabre" was not a box-office hit and, as a result, Lamberto went back to assistant directing. He worked with Dario Argento again in 1982 with "Tenebrae" (1982). In 1983 Lamberto was offered the opportunity to direct another film, titled "A Blade in the Dark" (1983), which was a violent mystery thriller shot in only three weeks on a tight budget and filmed almost entirely in a producer friend's house. Next he directed the action-flick "Blastfighter" (1984), which was filmed in the state of Georgia, and immediately afterwards directed the "Jaws" (1975)-like thriller "Devil Fish" (1984), which was shot in Florida. On both films Lamberto was purely a director for hire and had nothing to do with the script or production end. He used the pseudonym of 'John Old Jr.' for this latter film, which was a tribute to his father Mario, who often used the pseudonym 'John M. Old'. He enjoyed his best commercial success to date with "Demons" (1985), produced by Dario Argento, co-written by Dardano Sacchetti and filmed in West Berlin. This film's international success allowed him to co-write, produce and direct a sequel, "Demons 2" (1986). Lamberto returned to giallo thrillers with "Delirium" (1987).
In the late 1980s the Italian cinema turned moribund. Lamberto, like most of his colleagues, turned to making films for Italian television. He also directed a remake of his father's "Black Sunday" (1960), which was titled "La maschera del demonio" (1990).
Nowadays Lamberto Bava continues to divide his time between TV work and a few movies, acknowledging his inspiration from his late father, Mario.
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Ana Torrent
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ana Torrent Bertrán de Lis (born 12 July 1966) is a Spanish film actress.
Torrent's debut came in 1973 with the starring role as "Ana" in the film El espíritu de la colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive) directed by Víctor Erice, when she was seven years old. This was followed by another memorable role in which she played the lead character's younger self in Cría cuervos (Raise Ravens) (1976) by director Carlos Saura.
In 1989 Torrent performed with Sharon Stone in the film Blood and Sand directed by Javier Elorrieta.
In 1996 she received numerous awards and nominations, including a Goya Award nomination for her lead actress role in Alejandro Amenábar's film Tesis (Thesis). By the end of the 1990s, Torrent received critical acclaim when she played a Basque nationalist murdered for quitting ETA, in the film Yoyes (1999) directed by Helena Taberna.
In 2008 Torrent portrayed Catherine of Aragon in the film The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), starring Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Ana Torrent, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Kris Aquino
Biography
Born Kristina Bernadette Cojuangco Aquino also known as the Philippines' Queen of all Media. She is a Filipina television host, actress, producer, socialite, and businesswoman. She was the youngest daughter of the assassinated Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. and the late President Corazon Aquino, who served as the 11th President of the Philippines. Her brother Benigno S. Aquino III served as the 15th President of the Philippines from 2010 until 2016.
Her debut film appearance was in Pido Dida: Sabay Tayo and was also known for her roles in horror films Feng Shui and Sukob, which was the highest-grossing Filipino film of 2006.
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Elisabeth Volkmann
Biography
The trained singer and occasional sex film actress (“Hausfrauen-Report”, 1971) became a joker and comedian who liked to show herself in suspenders and bodices. She completed her training at the Folkwangschule in Essen, where she received her first role in the theater. She later moved to Munich, and she has also appeared on stage in Berlin and Hamburg, among other places, playing Shakespeare and other classics. She became known above all as Jolanthe von Scheußlich through the cult series "Klimbim", in which she stood in front of the camera together with Ingrid Steeger. Volkmann starred in numerous other TV series, including "Die rote Meile" (1999) and "Schloss Pompon Rouge" (1991). With director Rainer Werner Fassbinder she filmed, among other things, "The Longing of Veronika Voss" (1982). Volkmann had her last great success as a voice actress: she was the German voice of Marge Simpson and her twin sisters Patty and Selma in the animated series "The Simpsons
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Dan Brown
Biography
Dan Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author of thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel, The Da Vinci Code. Brown's novels, which are treasure hunts set in a 24-hour time period, feature the recurring themes of cryptography, keys, symbols, codes, and conspiracy theories. His books have been translated into over 40 languages, and as of 2009, sold over 80 million copies. Two of them, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, have been adapted into feature films. The former opened amid great controversy and poor reviews, while the latter did only slightly better with critics. Brown's novels that feature the lead character Robert Langdon also include historical themes and Christianity as recurring motifs, and as a result, have generated controversy. Brown states on his website that his books are not anti-Christian, though he is on a 'constant spiritual journey' himself, and says that his book The Da Vinci Code is simply "an entertaining story that promotes spiritual discussion and debate" and suggests that the book may be used "as a positive catalyst for introspection and exploration of our faith."
Description above from the Wikipedia article Dan Brown, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Luke Askew
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Luke Askew (born 1932 in Macon, Georgia, U.S.) is an American actor best known for his role in the 1969 film Easy Rider.
Askew was born in Macon, Georgia. He made his film debut in Otto Preminger's Hurry Sundown (1967), but was first noticed as an actor for his role in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke. He was one of the first actors daring to wear long hair in this era, which he had to hide under a hat during the filming of this movie. The next year he worked with John Wayne in The Green Berets (with his hair cut short). The following year he worked with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda in Easy Rider. This film set him on the road to becoming a cult figure of modern cinema.
Askew has continued to work as an actor since then, predominantly appeared as an actor on television series. This includes work on such series as: Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, The Rockford Files, The Six Million Dollar Man, T. J. Hooker, L.A. Law, MacGyver,Walker, Texas Ranger and HBO's Big Love. He has appeared frequently with Bill Paxton.
He also took part in Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage (1999), a documentary about the making of the film on the Easy Rider DVD.[1] Askew sang Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed songs at The Gaslight Cafe. According to Bob Dylan, Luke, when he sang at The Gaslight Cafe, was a "guy who sounded like Bobby Blue Bland"
Description above from the Wikipedia article Luke Askew licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Samm-Art Williams
Biography
Samm-Art Williams (born Samuel Arthur Williams; January 20, 1946) is an American playwright and screenwriter, and a stage and film/TV actor and television producer. Much of his work concerns the African-American experience.
He was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his play Home (1979), which moved from the Negro Ensemble Company to a Broadway production in 1980. In the mid-1980s, he received two Emmy nominations for his work for TV series. The Black Rep of St. Louis, Missouri produced the premier of his play The Montford Point Marine (2011).
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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