Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Castro y Bellvís, Guillén de

(Encyclopedia)Castro y Bellvís, Guillén de gēlyānˈ dā käsˈtrō ē bĕlvēsˈ [key], 1569–1631, Spanish dramatist, best known of the Valencian group of playwrights of the Golden Age. Three of his plays dra...

Odets, Clifford

(Encyclopedia)Odets, Clifford ōdĕtsˈ [key], 1906–63, American dramatist, b. Philadelphia. After graduating from high school he became an actor and in 1931 joined the Group Theatre. Turning his attention from a...

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...

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...

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...

Ming

(Encyclopedia)Ming mĭng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368–98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it...

Abell, Kjeld

(Encyclopedia)Abell, Kjeld kyĕl äˈbĕl [key], 1901–61, Danish playwright. Abell's Melody That Got Lost (1935, tr. 1939) was an early success. Trained as a stage designer, he was an innovator in stage technique...

Holz, Arno

(Encyclopedia)Holz, Arno ärˈnō hôlts [key], 1863–1929, German critic and poet. His influence as a founder of the German naturalist school and as a critic is more important than his work itself. He was particu...

Grau, Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)Grau, Jacinto häthēnˈtō grou [key], 1877–1958, Spanish dramatist, b. Barcelona. Participating in Spain's early-20th-century literary renaissance, Grau slowly gained recognition for his strikingl...

Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər sĭrgāˈəvĭch grēbəyĕˈdəf [key], 1795–1829, Russian playwright and diplomat. His fame rests upon his finest play, Wit Works Woe (1825; tr....