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Mamet, David

(Encyclopedia)Mamet, David mămĕtˈ [key], 1947–, American playwright and film director, b. Chicago. He taught drama (and produced some of his early plays) at Goddard College. His work, often dealing with the su...

Kazan, Elia

(Encyclopedia)Kazan, Elia ĭlīˈə, ēlˈyə kəzănˈ, –zänˈ [key], 1909–2003, American stage and film director, producer, writer, actor, b. Turkey, as Elia Kazanjoglous. Immigrating with his Greek family t...

Schlesinger, James Rodney

(Encyclopedia)Schlesinger, James Rodney, 1929–2014, U.S. secretary of defense (1973–75) and secretary of energy (1977–79), b. New York City. After graduating from Harvard (A.B., 1950; A.M., 1952; Ph.D., 1956)...

Soderbergh, Steven

(Encyclopedia)Soderbergh, Steven (Steven Andrew Soderbergh), 1963–, American film director, b. Atlanta, Ga. After making short films and documentaries, he scored a commercial success with sex, lies, and videotape...

Huston, John

(Encyclopedia)Huston, John hyo͞osˈtən [key], 1906–87, American motion picture director, writer, and actor, b. Nevada, Mo. In many of his films, such as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) and Moby Dick (19...

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia)Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an...

Spoleto Festival

(Encyclopedia)Spoleto Festival, also called Festival of the Two Worlds, annual summer arts festival held in Spoleto, Italy. Founded by the composer Gian-Carlo Menotti and the conductor Thomas Schippers, the festiva...

Burroughs, John

(Encyclopedia)Burroughs, John, 1837–1921, American naturalist and author, b. Roxbury, N.Y.; son of a farmer. He was a journalist, a treasury clerk in Washington, and a bank examiner, before settling in 1874 on a ...

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...

Mazursky, Paul

(Encyclopedia) Mazursky, Paul (Irwin Lawrence Mazursky), 1939-2014, American film director, screenwriter, and actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Brooklyn College (B.A., 1951)...
 

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