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Blitzstein, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, he stu...

Lang, Pearl

(Encyclopedia)Lang, Pearl, 1921–2009, American dancer and choreographer, b. Chicago as Pearl Lack. Lang was a soloist with Martha Graham's company (1942–52) before forming her own company in 1952. As a dancer a...

Plummer, Christopher

(Encyclopedia) Plummer, Christopher (Arthur Christopher Orme), 1929-2021, Canadian-American actor, b. Toronto, Canada. Raised by his mother, Plummer first aspire...

Day, Clarence Shepard

(Encyclopedia)Day, Clarence Shepard, 1874–1935, American essayist, b. New York City, grad. Yale, 1896. His biographical sketches of his parents, God and My Father (1932), Life with Father (1935), and Life with Mo...

Evans, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Maurice, 1901–89, Welsh-American actor. Evans came into prominence in 1928 and in 1934 was a leading man with the Old Vic. He first appeared on Broadway in 1936 in Romeo and Juliet with Katha...

Runyon, Damon

(Encyclopedia)Runyon, Damon (Alfred Damon Runyon), 1884–1946, American short story writer and journalist, b. Manhattan, Kans. He is best known for his humorous stories—written in a picturesque, slangy journalis...

Brice, Fanny

(Encyclopedia)Brice, Fanny or Fannie, 1891–1951, American comedienne, b. New York City as Fanny Borach. Brice appeared in burlesque and vaudeville from 1906. She starred in the Ziegfeld “Follies” from 1910 on...

Berle, Milton

(Encyclopedia)Berle, Milton, 1908–2002, American entertainer, b. New York City as Milton Berlinger. Berle first performed in vaudeville and on (1939–48) radio. His great success, however, came as television's f...

Merman, Ethel

(Encyclopedia)Merman, Ethel, 1908–84, American musical comedy star, b. Astoria, N.Y., originally named Ethel Zimmerman. Merman's theater debut was in George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930). Noted for her bra...

Merrick, David

(Encyclopedia)Merrick, David, 1912–2000, American theatrical producer, b. St. Louis, Mo., as David Margulois. Merrick began his remarkably successful series of theatrical productions in 1954 with Fanny, his first...