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Schnitzler, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Schnitzler, Arthur ärˈto͝or shnĭtsˈlər [key], 1862–1931, Austrian dramatist and novelist. The son of a prominent Jewish Viennese physician, he studied and practiced medicine until he attracted...

Altman, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Altman, Robert, 1925–2006, American film director, b. Kansas City, Mo. One of the most original talents in late-20th-century American filmmaking, he created complex, often loosely plotted movies mar...

Allen, Woody

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Woody, 1935–, American actor, writer, and director, one of contemporary America's leading filmmakers, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Allen Stewart Konigsberg. Allen began his career writing for televi...

Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der

(Encyclopedia)Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der häns kōˈnôn fən dĕr gäˈbəlĕnts [key], 1807–74, German linguist. Gabelentz showed the broad relationships among Pacific languages. He spoke 30 languages well a...

Shaw, Run Run

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Run Run, 1907–2014, Chinese film mogul, best known of the six Shaw brothers who founded an Asian movie empire. In Shanghai, he and his elder brother Runme Shaw made their first film (1924) and...

Ainu

(Encyclopedia)Ainu īˈno͞o [key], aborigines of Japan who may be descended from a Caucasoid people who once lived in N Asia. More powerful invaders from the Asian mainland gradually forced the Ainu to retreat to ...

Atkinson, Brooks

(Encyclopedia)Atkinson, Brooks (Justin Brooks Atkinson), 1894–1984, American journalist, b. Melrose, Mass. After being an editor for the New York Times he became its drama critic in 1925. Except for his service a...

mumming play

(Encyclopedia)mumming play, form of drama developed in England in the early 17th cent., based on the legend of St. George and the dragon. The central theme of the play is the death and resurrection of the hero. The...

Lazarus, Emma

(Encyclopedia)Lazarus, Emma, 1849–87, American poet and essayist, b. New York City. Her early verse includes Admetus and Other Poems (1871) and The Spagnoletto (1876), a poetic drama. Enraged by the Russian pogro...

Kraus, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Kraus, Karl kärl krous [key], 1874–1936, Austrian essayist and poet, b. Bohemia. His satirical review the Fackel lashed out at hypocrisy, intellectual corruption, and the machine age. His voluminou...