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Benchley, Robert Charles

(Encyclopedia)Benchley, Robert Charles, 1889–1945, American humorist, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1912. He was drama critic of Life (1920–29) and of the New Yorker (1929–40). Benchley was known for a ...

Bottomley, Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Bottomley, Gordon, 1874–1948, English poet and dramatist, b. Yorkshire. His major artistic efforts were directed at reviving verse drama in English. Among his plays are The Crier by Night (1902), Th...

Cankar, Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Cankar, Ivan ēvänˈ tsänˈkär [key], 1876–1918, Slovenian poet. Considered one of the great Slovenian literary figures, he was influential in the development of modern satire, symbolic drama, an...

Lemmon, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Lemmon, Jack (John Uhler Lemmon 3d), 1925–2001, American actor, b. Newton, Mass., grad. Harvard (1947). He became famous in roles ranging from sardonic comedy to compelling drama, ultimately achievi...

melodrama

(Encyclopedia)melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W...

Tell, William

(Encyclopedia)Tell, William, legendary Swiss patriot. According to legend, Tell was a native of Uri, one of the Swiss forest cantons. Gessler, the canton's Austrian bailiff, decreed that Swiss citizens must remove ...

Weaver, Sigourney

(Encyclopedia) Weaver, Sigourney , 1949- , American actress, b. New York, N.Y., as Susan Alexandra Weaver, Stanford Univ. (B.A., 1972), Yale Univ. (M.F.A., 1974). Wea...

Kara

(Encyclopedia)Kara kärˈə [key], river, c.140 mi (230 km) long, NE European and NW Siberian Russia. It flows N from the N Urals into the Kara Sea, forming part of the traditional border between European and Asian...

rubber plant

(Encyclopedia)rubber plant, name for any plant that yields rubber, specifically the India-rubber tree (Ficus elastica), an Asian fig. See also Pará rubber tree. ...

Pul-i-Khumri

(Encyclopedia)Pul-i-Khumri or Pol-e Khomri both: po͝ol-ĭ-kho͝omrēˈ [key], town, capital of Baghlan prov., central Afghanistan. It is a trading center and a stopping place for trucks and caravans traveling to N...