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Pei, I. M.

(Encyclopedia)Pei, I. M. (Ieoh Ming Pei) pā [key], 1917–2019, Chinese-American architect, b. Guangzhou, China. Pei immigrated to the United States in 1935 and studied at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, the Massachuse...

Lenya, Lotte

(Encyclopedia)Lenya, Lotte lôtˈə lĕnˈyä [key], 1898–1981, Viennese singer and character actress, b. Karoline Blamauer. The wife of the composer Kurt Weill, Lenya was the foremost singer of his songs. She an...

Reinhardt, Max

(Encyclopedia)Reinhardt, Max, 1873–1943, Austrian theatrical producer and director, originally named Max Goldmann. After acting under Otto Brahm at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, he managed (1902–5) his own t...

Gershwin, George

(Encyclopedia)Gershwin, George gŭrshˈwĭn [key], 1898–1937, American composer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jacob Gershwin. Gershwin wrote some of the most original and popular musical works produced in the United Sta...

Stratas, Teresa

(Encyclopedia)Stratas, Teresa, 1938–, Canadian soprano, b. Toronto as Anastasia Strataki, studied Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto. She made her operatic debut in 1958 with the Canadian Opera Company in an ac...

Cornell University

(Encyclopedia)Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of ...

Lerner, Alan Jay

(Encyclopedia)Lerner, Alan Jay, 1918–86, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City. After two years as a radio scriptwriter, Lerner began an association with the composer Frederick Loewe that resulted in...

Nash, Ogden

(Encyclopedia)Nash, Ogden, 1902–71, American poet, b. Rye, N.Y., studied at Harvard. He was popular for a wide assortment of witty and immensely quotable doggerel verses, ranging from urbane satire to absurdity i...

Rice, Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Rice, Elmer, 1892–1967, American dramatist, b. New York City, LL.B. New York Law School, 1912. After the success of his first play, On Trial (1914), he turned his interests to the theater. Rice's fi...

Selkirk Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk Mountains, rugged range of the Rocky Mts., SE British Columbia, Canada, near the Alta. border and extending northwest c.200 mi (320 km) from the U.S. border. Mt. Sir Sanford (11,590 ft/3,533 m...