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Burns, George

(Encyclopedia)Burns, George, 1896–1996, b. New York City as Nathan Birnbaum, and his wife Gracie Allen, 1906–64, b. San Francisco, American comedy team (1923–58). In vaudeville in the 1920s, on radio (1932–...

Reiner, Carl

(Encyclopedia) Reiner, Carl, 1922-2020, American comedian, television producer, actor, and film director, b. Bronx, N.Y. The son of a watchmaker, Reiner initially wo...

Dessoir, Max

(Encyclopedia)Dessoir, Max mäx dĕswär,ˈ [key], 1867–1947, German philosopher. He earned doctorates from the universities of Berlin (philosophy, 1889) and Würtzburg (medicine, 1892). He was a professor at Ber...

Woffington, Peg

(Encyclopedia)Woffington, Peg (Margaret Woffington), 1714?–1760, English actress, b. Dublin. Her charm and beauty as a child attracted attention, and at the age of 10 she acted in the role of Polly Peachum in a L...

Killigrew, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Killigrew, Thomas kĭlˈəgro͞oˌ [key], 1612–83, English dramatist and theater manager, b. London. Before the closing of the theaters by the Puritans in 1642, he wrote several tragicomedies, inclu...

Takahata, Isao

(Encyclopedia)Takahata, Isao, 1935–2018, Japanese animator. One the most influential directors of Japanese animated films (anime), he joined Tokyo's Toei animation studio in 1959. His first feature film, Hols: Pr...

Wallack, James William

(Encyclopedia)Wallack, James William wŏlˈək [key], c.1795–1864, Anglo-American actor and manager. Of a theatrical family, he was a leading actor (1812–32) in both comedy and melodrama at Drury Lane. After 18...

Beatty, Ned Thomas

(Encyclopedia) Beatty, Ned Thomas, 1937-2021, American television and film actor, b. Louisville, Ky. Beatty began his career in regional theater, beginning in ...

Sennett, Mack

(Encyclopedia)Sennett, Mack sĕnˈĭt [key], 1884–1960, American movie director and producer, b. Danville, Que. In 1909 he began working for D. W. Griffith at the Biograph Company, and in 1912 he organized his ow...

Fry, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Fry, Christopher, 1907–2005, English dramatist, b. Bristol as Christopher Fry Harris. Like his friend and mentor, T. S. Eliot, he was one of the few 20th-century dramatists to write successfully in ...