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Wilder, Billy

(Encyclopedia)Wilder, Billy, 1906–2002, American film director, producer, and writer, b. Sucha, Galicia (now Poland) as Samuel Wilder. He wrote for films in Berlin, fled the Nazis, and arrived in Hollywood in 193...

Mrożek, Sławomir

(Encyclopedia)Mrożek, Sławomir slävôˈmēr mərôˈzhĕk [key], 1930–2013, Polish dramatist and short-story writer. While working as a journalist and cartoonist for a Kraków newspaper, Mrożek began to write...

Cheever, John

(Encyclopedia)Cheever, John, 1912–82, American author, b. Quincy, Mass. His expulsion from Thayer Academy was the subject of his first short story, published by the New Republic when he was 17. Many of his subseq...

Goldoni, Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Goldoni, Carlo kärˈlō gōldôˈnē [key], 1707–93, Italian dramatist. He was enamored of comedy from childhood, having sketched his first comic drama at eight. He took a degree in law at Padua bu...

Amado, Jorge

(Encyclopedia)Amado, Jorge zhôrˈzhĭ əmäˈdo͝o [key], 1912–2001, Brazilian novelist. Amado's works deal largely with the poor urban black and mulatto communities of Bahia. His early novels, such as The Viole...

Donleavy, J. P.

(Encyclopedia)Donleavy, J. P. (James Patrick Donleavy), 1926–2017, Irish-American novelist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied Trinity College, Dublin. The son of Irish expatriates, he lived most of his life in Ireland a...

Sousa, John Philip

(Encyclopedia)Sousa, John Philip so͞oˈzə, –sə [key], 1854–1932, American bandmaster and composer, b. Washington, D.C. He studied violin and harmony in his native city and learned band instruments as an appr...

Campion, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Campion, Jane, 1954–, New Zealand film director, b. Wellington; grad. Victoria Univ., Wellington (1975), Sydney College of the Arts, Australia (1979), Australian School of Film and Television, Sydne...

Chabon, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Chabon, Michael, 1963–, American writer, b. Washington, D.C., B.A. Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1984, M.A. Univ. of California, Irvine, 1987. Chabon's novels combine intriguing plots, usually involving Jewi...

Lyly, John

(Encyclopedia)Lyly or Lilly, John both: lĭlˈē [key], 1554?–1606, English dramatist and prose writer. An accomplished courtier, he also served as a member of Parliament from 1589 to 1601. His Euphues, published...