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John Smith

Biography

Actor John Smith was born Robert Errol Van Orden in Los Angeles. He began his career singing with The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, a group which appeared in two Bing Crosby films, Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945). His agent Henry Willson, who also gave Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson their names, changed Van Orden's name to "John Smith". Robert Hofler, author of "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson", reports that an actress identified as Pocahontas Crowfoot was in the courtroom when the name change was granted. In We're No Angels (1955), Smith had a small role as "Arnaud", the ship's doctor. Aldo Ray, observing the doctor in full dress whites, says "he looks like a glass of milk". John Smith's other film credits include Circus World (1964) and Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1972). Smith also appeared in the television westerns Cimarron City (1958) and Laramie (1959).
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Yasuzō Masumura

Biography

Yasuzo Masumura (増村 保造 Masumura Yasuzō, August 25, 1924 - November 23, 1986) was a Japanese film director. Masumura was born in Kōfu on Honshū. After dropping out of a law course at the University of Tokyo he worked as an assistant director at the Daiei studio, later returning to university to study philosophy; he graduated in 1949. He then won a scholarship allowing him to study film in Italy at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia under Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. Masumura returned to Japan in 1953 and from 1955 worked as a second-unit director on films directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa, before directing his own first film, Kisses, in 1957. Over the next three decades he directed around 60 films in a variety of genres. His work is noted for his dark satire and fluid style. Notable films include Red Angel, Black Test Car, Giants and Toys, Blind Beast and Hoodlum Soldier.
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Maddie Ziegler

Biography

Madison Nicole Ziegler (born September 30, 2002) is an American actress and dancer. She was initially known for appearing in Lifetime's reality show Dance Moms from 2011 (at age 8) until 2016. From 2014, she gained wider recognition for starring in a series of music videos by Sia, beginning with "Chandelier" and "Elastic Heart", which have in total attracted more than 5 billion views on YouTube. Ziegler has appeared in films, television shows, concerts, advertisements and on magazine covers. Ziegler was a judge on the 2016 season of So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation and toured with Sia in North America and Australia in 2016. Her 2017 memoir, The Maddie Diaries, was a New York Times Best Seller. Her film roles include Camille Le Haut in the animated film Ballerina (2016), Christina Sickleman in The Book of Henry (2017), the title role in Music (2021), Mia Reed in the high school drama The Fallout (2021) and Velma in Steven Spielberg's 2021 West Side Story. Ziegler was included by Time magazine on its list of the "30 most influential teens" in each year from 2015 to 2017. She was included in the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Hollywood & Entertainment category. Her social media presence includes an Instagram account with more than 13 million followers.
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Fred Thompson

Biography

Freddie Dalton 'Fred' Thompson (August 19, 1942 - November 1, 2015), credited as Fred Thompson and Fred Dalton Thompson, is an American politician, actor, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, and radio host. He served as a Republican U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1994 through 2003. He served as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board at the United States Department of State, was a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, specializing in national security and intelligence. As an actor, he has appeared in a large number of movies and television shows. He has frequently portrayed governmental figures. In the final months of his U.S. Senate term in 2002, he joined the cast of the long-running NBC television series Law & Order, playing Manhattan District Attorney Arthur Branch. In May 2007, he took a break from acting in order to run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. In 2009, he returned to acting with a guest appearance on television series; and co-starred with Brian Dennehy in the movie Alleged, about the Scopes Monkey Trial. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Smokey Robinson

Biography

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson was the founder and frontman of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as "the Five Chimes" until 1972, when he announced a retirement from the group to focus on his role as Motown's vice president. However, Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the following year. Following the sale of Motown Records in 1988, Robinson left the company in 1990. Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and was awarded the 2016 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for his lifetime contributions to popular music.
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Jason Statham

Biography

Jason Statham (born July 26, 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent. Statham began practicing Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate recreationally in his youth while working at local market stalls. An avid footballer and diver, he was a member of Britain's national diving team and competed for England in the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Shortly after, he was asked to model for French Connection, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi's in various advertising campaigns. His past history working at market stalls inspired his casting in the Guy Ritchie crime films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000). The commercial success of these films led Statham to star as Frank Martin in the Transporter trilogy (2002–2008). After starring in a variety of heist and action-thriller films such as The Italian Job (2003), Crank (2006), War (2007), The Bank Job (2008), The Mechanic (2011), Spy (2015), and Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), he established himself as a Hollywood leading man. However, he has also starred in commercially and critically unsuccessful films such as Revolver (2005), Chaos (2005), In the Name of the King (2007), 13 (2010), Blitz (2011), Killer Elite (2011), Hummingbird (2013), and Wild Card (2015). He regained commercial success as a part of the ensemble action series The Expendables (2010–2014) and the Fast & Furious franchise. In the latter, he has played Deckard Shaw in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), Furious 7 (2015), The Fate of the Furious (2017), F9 (2021) and the spin-off Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). He was credited as a co-producer on Hobbs & Shaw, receiving his first production credit. His acting has been criticized for lacking depth and variety, but he has also been praised for leading the resurgence of action films during the 2000s and 2010s. According to a BBC News report, his film career from 2002 to 2017 generated an estimated $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) in ticket sales, making him one of the film industry's most bankable stars.
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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 31 October 2020, it was announced that Connery had died at the age of 90. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sean Connery, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
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Dell Henderson

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia George Delbert "Dell" Henderson (July 5, 1877 – December 2, 1956) was a Canadian-American actor, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film. Born in the Southwestern Ontario city of St. Thomas, Dell Henderson started his acting career on the stage, but appeared in his first movie Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court already in 1908. Henderson was a frequent associate of film pioneer D.W. Griffith since 1909 and appeared in numerous of his early shorts in Hollywood. He also acted on a less prolific basis in the movies of producer Mack Sennett and his Keystone Studios. In addition to acting, Henderson also directed nearly 200 silent films between 1911 and 1928. Most of those films are forgotten or lost, but he also directed movies with silent stars like Harry Carey and Roscoe Arbuckle. Henderson also worked as a writer on numerous screenplays. After retiring from directing in 1927, Henderson turned to acting full-time and played important supporting roles in King Vidor's The Crowd (1928) and as General Marmaduke Pepper in Show People (1928). The advent of sound film damaged his acting career, and he often had to play smaller roles. In the 1930s, the comedic character actor appeared on several occasions as a comic foil for such comedians as The Three Stooges, W. C. Fields and Laurel and Hardy. He often played somewhat pompous figures like judges, businessmen, detectives or mayors. Modern audiences will remember Henderson as annoyed hospital president Dr. Graves in The Three Stooges film Men in Black and the put-upon chaperone in the Little Rascals film Choo-Choo!. He also appeared as a Night Court Judge in Laurel and Hardy's Our Relations (1936) and as a friendly Car salesman in Leo McCarey's drama Make Way for Tomorrow (1937). Henderson ended his film career after numerous small roles in 1950. Henderson died of a heart attack in Hollywood at the age of 79. He was married with actress Florence Lee until his death, they made several silent films together.
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Christine Ockrent

Biography

Christine Ockrent (born 24 April 1944) is a Belgian journalist whose career has principally centered on French television. She interviewed Amir Abbas Hoveyda, the former Iranian prime minister, in Evin prison after the Islamic revolution in 1979. It was the last interview with Hoveyda before his execution. Ockrent was born in Brussels, Belgium, daughter of Belgian diplomat Roger Ockrent. She attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school in Paris. She graduated from the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) in 1965. She worked for the CBS news magazine, 60 Minutes, while in charge of morning news for Europe 1 in France. In 1981, she became the first female anchor of the 8 pm news on the Antenne 2 television channel. Afterwards, she worked for TF1 as anchor of the evening news at France 2; and since 1990 for France 3 as the host of different news magazines. She was chief of the L'Express editorial office. For over a decade she presented France Europe Express, a TV show about European issues. She is a fervent supporter of a united Europe, she proved so by signing the Soros letter for a federal answer to the crisis of the euro. Ockrent held the number two post at the Société de l'audiovisuel extérieur de la France, until she was relieved in May 2011. She refused to resign, saying that she had had to endure "nine months of manoeuvres that have sullied my honour and reputation". She is a former member of the Saint-Simon Foundation think-tank. In 2002, Ockrent wrote the preface to Ma guerre à L'indifference (English: My war against indifference), a book by United Nations official Jean-Sélim Kanaan. She is the author of more than a dozen works including: La Double vie d'Hillary Clinton (The Double Life of Hillary Clinton), Robert Laffont (2001) Les Oligarques: le système Poutine (The Oligarchs, The Putin System), Robert Laffont (2014) Le Prince mystère de l'Arabie (The Mysterious Prince of Arabie). Mohammed Ben Salman, les mirages d'un pouvoir absolu, Robert Laffont (2018). Ockrent is the life partner of Bernard Kouchner, a French politician and the former foreign minister, with whom she had a son, Alexandre, born 11 March 1986. Source: Article "Christine Ockrent" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Kendall Reusing

Biography

Kendall Reusing is a grappler and a jiu-jitsu black belt under Tom Reusing (father), widely regarded as one of the top competitors of her generation. After a successful career as a freestyle wrestler, 5’9 (175cm) Reusing dominated the super-heavyweight division as a colored belt, before joining the black belt brackets in July 2019. During her first 6 months in BJJ’s professional division, Kendall conquered the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) World No-Gi Championship in both her weight and the absolute division (open weight), cementing her status as one of the top tier athletes in the sport.
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