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Kern, Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Kern, Jerome kûrn [key], 1885–1945, American composer of musicals, b. New York City. After studying in New Jersey and New York he studied composition in Germany and England. His first success was t...

Coppola, Sophia Carmina

(Encyclopedia) Coppola, Sophia Carmina, , 1971- , American director, screenwriter, and actress, b. New York City. The youngest child of director Francis Ford Coppola ...

Sverdrup, Johan

(Encyclopedia)Sverdrup, Johan svĕrˈdro͝op [key], 1816–92, Norwegian prime minister. As a member of the Storting (1851–84) and as prime minister (1884–89) he successfully advocated parliamentary government...

Gielgud, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Gielgud, Sir John (Arthur John Gielgud) gĭlˈgo͝od [key], 1904–2000, English actor, director, and producer. A grandnephew of Ellen Terry, Gielgud made his debut at the Old Vic in 1921. His intelli...

Mayweather, Floyd, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Mayweather, Floyd, Jr., 1977–, American boxer, b. Grand Rapids, Mich., as Floyd Joy Sinclair. He began boxing at an early age, coached by his father, a welterweight boxer whose name he subsequently ...

Dukakis, Olympia

(Encyclopedia) Dukakis, Olympia, 1931-2021, American actress, b. Lowell, Ma., Boston Univ. (B.A., M.F.A.). Dukakis’s parents were Greek immigrants. After ...

Ríos Montt, José Efraín

(Encyclopedia)Ríos Montt, José Efraín hōsāˈ ĕfräēnˈ rēˈōs mōnt [key], 1926–2018, Guatemalan general and politician. A career army officer, he became head of the Guatamalan army in 1970. As a Christi...

Brasília

(Encyclopedia)Brasília bräzēlˈyä [key], capital city and federal district of Brazil (2,264 sq mi/5,864 sq ...

Lorenz, Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Lorenz, Konrad kônˈrät lôrˈĕnts [key], 1903–89, Austrian zoologist and ethologist. He received medical training at the Univ. of Vienna and spent two years at the medical school of Columbia Uni...

Henson, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Henson, Jim (James Maury Henson), 1936–90, American puppeteer, creator of the Muppets, b. Greenville, Miss., grad. Univ. of Maryland (A.B., 1960). In 1954 he got his first job as a local television ...