Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

347 results found

Lubitsch, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Lubitsch, Ernst lo͞oˈbĭch [key], 1892–1947, German-American film director, b. Berlin. He studied acting in his native city and in 1911 joined Max Reinhardt's theatre company. Lubitsch turned to d...

Holbrook, Hal

(Encyclopedia) Holbrook, Hal (Harold Rowe, Jr.), 1925-2021, American actor, b. Cleveland, Oh. (Denison Univ., BA, 1947). Holbrook was raised by his grandparents in S...

Covent Garden

(Encyclopedia)Covent Garden kŭvˈənt [key], area in London historically containing the city's principal fruit and garden market and the Royal Opera House. The market was established in 1671 by Charles II on the s...

Coquelin, Benoît Constant

(Encyclopedia)Coquelin, Benoît Constant bənwäˈ kôNstäNˈ kôklăNˈ [key], 1841–1909, French actor, known as Coquelin aîné [the elder]. He made his debut at the Comédie française in 1860 and achieved fa...

Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio jōäk-kēˈnō äntôˈnyō rōs-sēˈnē [key], 1792–1868, Italian operatic composer, one of the great masters of the Italian opera buffa. His parents were both musicia...

Ratmansky, Alexei Osipovich

(Encyclopedia)Ratmansky, Alexei Osipovich, 1968–, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He studied with the Bolshoi Ballet school (1978–86), then danced with the Kiev Ballet; he later danced with the Royal W...

Tallchief, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Tallchief, Maria, 1925–2013, American ballerina, b. Fairfax, Okla., as Elizabeth Marie Tall Chief. Tallchief, of Osage descent, was trained both as a pianist and a dancer. Deciding on a career in ba...

Cook, James

(Encyclopedia)Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joine...

ferry

(Encyclopedia)ferry, vessel providing passage over a river, lake, or other body of water for passengers, vehicles, or freight; the term is also applied to the place where the crossing is made and, by extension, to ...

pentameter

(Encyclopedia)pentameter pĕntămˈətər [key] [Gr.,=measure of five], in prosody, a line to be scanned in five feet (see versification). The third line of Thomas Nashe's “Spring” is in pentameter: “Cold dot...