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Russian American Company

(Encyclopedia)Russian American Company, colonial trading company, chartered by Czar Paul I in 1799. The charter granted the merchant-dominated company monopoly trading privileges in Russian America, which included ...

Central American Federation

(Encyclopedia)Central American Federation or Central American Union, political confederation (1825–38) of the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. United under ...

Bernstein, Leonard

(Encyclopedia)Bernstein, Leonard bûrnˈstīn, –stēn [key], 1918–90, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. Lawrence, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1939, and Curtis Institute of Music, 1941. A highly versatile ...

Lee, Spike

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Spike (Shelton Jackson Lee), 1957–, African-American filmmaker, b. Atlanta, Ga. As a student at New York Univ., he won recognition with his gradu...

Logan, Joshua

(Encyclopedia)Logan, Joshua, 1908–88, American theatrical and film director and writer, b. Texarkana, Tex. He directed several successes in New York, including Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) and Annie Get Your Gun ...

Clancy, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Clancy, Tom (Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr.), 1947–2013, American popular novelist, b. Baltimore, grad. Loyola Univ. Maryland (B.A., 1969). While working as an insurance agent he wrote The Hunt for Red Octo...

Dean, James

(Encyclopedia)Dean, James (James Byron Dean), 1931–55, American film actor, b. Marion, Ind. After a few stage and television roles, Dean was chosen to play the moody, rebellious son in the film East of Eden (1953...

auteur

(Encyclopedia)auteur ōtörˈ [key], in film criticism, a director who so dominates the film-making process that it is appropriate to call the director the auteur, or author, of the motion picture. The auteur theor...

White, Pearl

(Encyclopedia)White, Pearl, 1889–1939, American stage and film actress, b. Green Ridge, Mo. She appeared in such silent-film serials as The Perils of Pauline and The Exploits of Elaine, adventures that were conti...