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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...

Harlow, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Harlow, Jean, 1911–37, American movie star, b. Kansas City, Mo., as Harlean Carpentier. Harlow brought charm and a sexual knowingness to a series of comedies during the 1930s, becoming the model of ...

Wiechert, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Wiechert, Ernst ĕrnst vēˈkhĕrt [key], 1887–1950, German novelist. His works, distinguished by a poetic prose style, generally deal with his native East Prussia and the upheavals of the world war...

Lehmann, John

(Encyclopedia)Lehmann, John lāˈmən [key], 1907–89, English poet, editor, and publisher. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, he began working at Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1931 and manage...

Le Gallienne, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Le Gallienne, Richard, 1866–1947, English man of letters. As literary critic and contributor to the Yellow Book, he was associated with the fin-de-siècle aesthetes of the 1890s before becoming a re...

Laurent, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Laurent, Robert rōbârˈ lôrĕntˈ [key], 1890–1970, American sculptor, b. France. He emigrated to the United States in 1902 and later studied in Rome. Progressing from early decorative works, he ...

Sheppard, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Sheppard, Jack, 1702–24, English criminal. Raised in a workhouse, he ran away with Bess Lyon, known as Edgeworth Bess, who, with another girl known as Poll Maggott, incited him to a short but specta...

Smith, Lillian

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Lillian, 1897–1966, American writer and social critic, b. Jasper, Fla. She was a social worker in Georgia for several years. Her best-selling novel Strange Fruit (1944) is set in the South an...

Stapleton, Maureen

(Encyclopedia)Stapleton, Maureen, 1925–2006, American actress, b. Troy, N.Y., as Lois Maureen Stapleton. Stapleton's first major stage success was in The Rose Tattoo (1951; Tony Award, Best Featured Actress). Bes...

Gates, Robert Michael

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Robert Michael, 1943–, American government official, U.S. secretary of defense (2006–11), b. Wichita, Kans. A circumspect and pragmatic career intelligence officer, he joined (1966) the Cen...