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tom-tom

(Encyclopedia)tom-tom, name popularly applied to high-pitched hand drums, usually barrel-shaped and having either one or two drumheads of skin. They are tunable to specific pitches. Supposedly of Native American or...

Allen, Woody

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Woody, 1935–, American actor, writer, and director, one of contemporary America's leading filmmakers, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Allen Stewart Konigsberg. Allen began his career writing for televi...

Altman, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Altman, Robert, 1925–2006, American film director, b. Kansas City, Mo. One of the most original talents in late-20th-century American filmmaking, he created complex, often loosely plotted movies mar...

Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der

(Encyclopedia)Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der häns kōˈnôn fən dĕr gäˈbəlĕnts [key], 1807–74, German linguist. Gabelentz showed the broad relationships among Pacific languages. He spoke 30 languages well a...

Shaw, Run Run

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Run Run, 1907–2014, Chinese film mogul, best known of the six Shaw brothers who founded an Asian movie empire. In Shanghai, he and his elder brother Runme Shaw made their first film (1924) and...

Ainu

(Encyclopedia)Ainu īˈno͞o [key], aborigines of Japan who may be descended from a Caucasoid people who once lived in N Asia. More powerful invaders from the Asian mainland gradually forced the Ainu to retreat to ...

Abell, Kjeld

(Encyclopedia)Abell, Kjeld kyĕl äˈbĕl [key], 1901–61, Danish playwright. Abell's Melody That Got Lost (1935, tr. 1939) was an early success. Trained as a stage designer, he was an innovator in stage technique...

Holz, Arno

(Encyclopedia)Holz, Arno ärˈnō hôlts [key], 1863–1929, German critic and poet. His influence as a founder of the German naturalist school and as a critic is more important than his work itself. He was particu...

Grau, Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)Grau, Jacinto häthēnˈtō grou [key], 1877–1958, Spanish dramatist, b. Barcelona. Participating in Spain's early-20th-century literary renaissance, Grau slowly gained recognition for his strikingl...

Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Griboyedov, Aleksandr Sergeyevich əlyĭksänˈdər sĭrgāˈəvĭch grēbəyĕˈdəf [key], 1795–1829, Russian playwright and diplomat. His fame rests upon his finest play, Wit Works Woe (1825; tr....