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Massinger, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Massinger, Philip măsˈənjər [key], 1583–1640, English dramatist, b. Salisbury. He studied at Oxford (1602–6) but left without a degree, apparently to go to London to write plays. A prolific wr...

Andersen, Benny

(Encyclopedia)Andersen, Benny änˈərsən, ănˈdər– [key], 1929–, Danish writer and musician. Andersen is a noted jazz artist, composer, and writer. He has written novels, children's books, and screenplays, ...

Bevis of Hampton

(Encyclopedia)Bevis of Hampton bēˈvĭs [key], English metrical romance of the early 14th cent. that also appears in Anglo-Norman, French, Italian, Scandinavian, Celtic, and Slavonic versions. Although its adventu...

Defregger, Franz von

(Encyclopedia)Defregger, Franz von fränts fən dāˈfrĕgər [key], 1835–1921, Austrian genre and historical painter. He studied in Munich with Piloty. He is known for his popular pictures of Tyrolean life, whic...

Briggs, Clare A.

(Encyclopedia)Briggs, Clare A., 1875–1930, American cartoonist, b. Reedsburg, Wis. He won a national reputation with the contributions he made to the Chicago Tribune from 1907 to 1914. From 1914 until his death h...

Carson, Johnny

(Encyclopedia)Carson, Johnny, 1925–2005, American television entertainer, b. Corning, Iowa. Carson, who grew up in Nebraska, began his career as a magician, then wrote comedy sketches for radio and hosted daytime...

Cobb, Irvin Shrewsbury

(Encyclopedia)Cobb, Irvin Shrewsbury, 1876–1944, American author, b. Paducah, Ky. He was a noted New York humorist and columnist. Although he wrote over 60 books, Cobb is best known for his humorous stories of Ke...

McGinley, Phyllis

(Encyclopedia)McGinley, Phyllis, 1905–78, American poet, b. Ontario, Oreg. Her light verse treats aspects of modern life with humor and underlying seriousness. Among her best-known collections of verse are A Pock...

Smith, Seba

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Seba, 1792–1868, American humorist, b. Buckfield, Maine. He founded the Portland Courier in 1829 and in it began (1830) a series of humorous letters on politics under the pen name Major Jack ...

Spitzweg, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Spitzweg, Carl kärl shpĭtsˈvĕk [key], 1808–85, German genre painter and draftsman. Self-taught, he depicted the daily life of his native Munich in small, charming pictures in which realism, fanc...