singer, actorBorn: 12/8/1925Birthplace: New York City Popular singer and stage and film actor who started touring with his family's troupe, the Will Mastin Trio, at age three. He was a member of…
actorBorn: 12/28/1908Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota Ayres appeared in more than 60 films, but is known for being a conscientious objector to World War II. Both Hollywood and movie fans balked…
(Marvin John Nance)actorBorn: 12/21/1943Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts Nance acted in several films directed by David Lynch, most memorably in the lead role of Eraserhead (1976); he also…
(Lucille Fay Le Sueur)actressBorn: 3/23/1908Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas Academy Award -winning actress whose portrayal of independent women is associated with Hollywood's most glamorous era.…
jazz bass playerBorn: 1912Birthplace: New York City Peer began plucking the strings for the Chick Webb Orchestra in 1937. He backed up stars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Lena Horne,…
(Encyclopedia) Morton, Jelly Roll, 1890–1941, American jazz musician, composer, and band leader, originally named Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, b. Gulfport, La. He began studying piano as a child and in…
(Encyclopedia) violet, common name for some members of the Violaceae, a family of chiefly perennial herbs (and sometimes shrubs, small trees, or climbers) found on all continents. Violets, including…
(Encyclopedia) Cohan, George MichaelCohan, George Michaelkōhănˈ, kōˈhăn, kōˈən [key], 1878–1942, American showman, b. Providence, R.I. As a child he appeared in vaudeville as one of “The Four Cohans…