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Shakur, Tupac Amaru

(Encyclopedia) Shakur, Tupac Amaru, 1971-1996, African-American rap artist, composer, and actor, b. New York, N.Y., as Lesane Parish Crooks. Tupac’s mother was a ...

Burns, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Burns, Robert, 1759–96, Scottish poet. Burns's art is at its best in songs such as “Flow Gently, Sweet Afton,” “My Heart's in the Highlands,” and “John Anderson My Jo.” Two collections...

Mitchum, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Mitchum, Robert (Robert Charles Duran Mitchum), 1917–97, American film actor, b. Bridgeport, Conn. He found extra work and bit parts in early 1940s movies, and first achieved wide notice for his sup...

Lancaster, Burt

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, Burt (Burton Stephen Lancaster), 1913–94, American film actor, b. New York City. A superb athlete, he began his career as an acrobat. Best known for his roles as a cerebral tough guy, he ...

Roach, Hal

(Encyclopedia)Roach, Hal (Harold Eugene Roach, Sr.), 1892–1992, American move producer and director, b. Elmira, N.Y. He entered (1912) the motion-picture industry as an extra, and by 1914 had founded a production...

Shapiro, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Shapiro, Karl, 1913–2000, American poet and critic, b. Baltimore, studied Univ. of Virginia, Johns Hopkins. His interests in the aesthetics and artifice of modern poetry and the role of the poet as ...

Anderson, Marian

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Marian, 1897–1993, American contralto, b. Philadelphia. She was the first African American to be named a permanent member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, as well as the first to perform...

Dayan, Moshe

(Encyclopedia)Dayan, Moshe mōˈshə dīänˈ, däyänˈ [key], 1915–81, Israeli military leader, b. Palestine. After attending Senior Agricultural School in Nahalal, Dayan fought with the Haganah (Jewish militia...

Delany, Samuel R.

(Encyclopedia)Delany, Samuel R. (Samuel Ray Delany, Jr.), 1942–, African-American wrtier, b. Harlem, New York City. Delany uses science fiction, fantasy, and memoir to explore sexual identity, race, language, and...

Farrell, James Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Farrell, James Thomas fârˈəl [key], 1904–79, American novelist, b. Chicago. In his fiction Farrell expressed anger against the brutal economic and social conditions that produce emotional and mat...