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Bedford, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Brian, 1935–2016, English actor, b. Morley, Yorkshire; studied Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. During his long career, Bedford, who was adept at both tragedy and comedy, performed on...

Rossetti, Gabriele

(Encyclopedia)Rossetti, Gabriele rōsĕtˈē [key], 1783–1854, Italian poet and critic; father of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and of Christina Rossetti. Exiled in 1821, he fled first to Malta, where he stayed for thr...

Sargent, Thomas John

(Encyclopedia)Sargent, Thomas John, 1943–, American economist, b. Pasadena, Calif., Ph.D. Harvard (1968). He has been on the faculty at the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1970–71), Univ. of Minnesota (1971–87), Univ....

Stewart, Martha

(Encyclopedia)Stewart, Martha, 1941–, American entrepeneur and tastemaker, b. Jersey City, N.J., as Martha Helen Kostyra, grad. Barnard College (1963). Moving to Westport, Conn., she started (1976) a successful c...

Storm, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Storm, Theodor tāˈōdôr shtôrm [key], 1817–88, German poet and novelist, b. Schleswig-Holstein. From 1843 to 1853 he practiced law in his native Husum, but he was exiled (1853–64) by Denmark f...

tap dance

(Encyclopedia)tap dance, theatrical dance form in which the dancer, wearing shoes with metal heel and toe taps, beats out complex, syncopated rhythms on the floor. After a slump in popularity in the 1960s, tap ...

Dickinson, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Dickinson, Peter (Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson), 1927–2015, b. Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). The son of a civil servant, he returned to England (1935) with his family and attend...

Duvalier, Jean-Claude

(Encyclopedia)Duvalier, Jean-Claude düvälyāˈ [key], 1951–2014, president of Haiti (1971–86). At age 19, he was proclaimed “president for life” upon the death of his father, Francois Duvalier. Under gre...

Cosby, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Cosby, Bill (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) kŏzˈbē [key], 1937–, American actor and comedian, b. Philadelphia. He became known as a comedian and was subsequently the first African-American actor to st...

Day, Doris

(Encyclopedia)Day, Doris, 1922–2019, American film actress, b. Cincinnati as Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff. Day is best known for her wholesome, girl-next-door roles. She began her career as a 1940s band singer, and ...