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Stoker, Bram

(Encyclopedia)Stoker, Bram (Abraham Stoker), 1847–1912, English novelist, b. Dublin, Ireland. He is best remembered as the author of Dracula (1897), a horror story recounting the activities of the vampire Count D...

Talma, François Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Talma, François Joseph fräNswäˈ zhôzĕfˈ tälmäˈ [key], 1763–1826, French actor. The greatest tragedian of his time, he broke with tradition and foreshadowed the romanticists. He continued L...

Baryshnikov, Mikhail

(Encyclopedia)Baryshnikov, Mikhail mĭˈkhail bərĭˌshnĭkävˈ [key], 1948–, Russian-American dancer and choreographer, b. Riga, Latvia (then in the USSR). He studied in Riga and performed with the Kirov Balle...

Linklater, Richard Stuart

(Encyclopedia)Linklater, Richard Stuart, 1960–, American screenwriter, director, and actor, b. Houston. He dropped out of college and worked on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, then moved to Austin (1983), where...

Leachman, Cloris

(Encyclopedia)Leachman, Cloris, 1926-2021, American actress, b. Des Moines, Ia. Leachman began acting in children’s theater when she was seven, and studied drama a...

thistle

(Encyclopedia)thistle, popular name for many spiny and usually weedy plants, but especially applied to members of the family Asteraceae (aster family) that have spiny leaves and often showy heads of purple, rose, w...

Brown, George

(Encyclopedia)Brown, George, 1818–80, Canadian statesman and journalist, b. Scotland. In 1837 he emigrated to the United States, but after five years in New York City, he settled in Toronto, Ont. There he founded...

Nemirovich-Danchenko, Vladimir

(Encyclopedia)Nemirovich-Danchenko, Vladimir vlədyēˈmĭr nāmērōˈvĭch-dänˈchĕngkō [key], 1859–1943, Russian stage director, cofounder and director of the Moscow Art Theater. Prior to his historical mee...

Nijinska, Bronislava

(Encyclopedia)Nijinska, Bronislava brônēˈsləvə nyīzhēnˈskə [key], 1891–1972, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer; sister of Vaslav Nijinsky. She studied at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersbur...

MacKaye, Steele

(Encyclopedia)MacKaye, Steele (James Morrison Steele MacKaye), 1842–94, American dramatist and inventor in theatrical scene design. After studying in Europe he went to the United States (c.1872) and first appeare...