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Pitoëff, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Pitoëff, Georges zhôrzh pēˈtōĕf [key], 1884–1939, Russian actor-manager. Although he had both engineering and law degrees, Pitoeff was drawn to the theater. He directed his own amateur company...

Redgrave

(Encyclopedia)Redgrave, family of English actors. Sir Michael Redgrave, 1908–85, b. Bristol, Eng., was an actor, director, and writer. After his first professional performance in Counsellor-at-Law (1934), he appe...

Chambers, Sir Edmund Kerchever

(Encyclopedia)Chambers, Sir Edmund Kerchever, 1866–1954, English literary critic and Shakespearean scholar. He wrote The Mediaeval Stage (1903), The Elizabethan Stage (1923), Arthur of Britain (1927), William Sha...

Dodd, William

(Encyclopedia)Dodd, William, 1729–77, English author. At one time king's chaplain, he ran heavily into debt, forged a bond, and was sentenced to death. Dr. Johnson led a movement to obtain clemency, but Dodd was ...

Chamberlain's Men

(Encyclopedia)Chamberlain's Men, Elizabethan theatrical company for which Shakespeare, a joint owner of the company, wrote his plays and served as actor. Organized in 1594, they performed at the Globe and at the Bl...

Greene, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Greene, Robert, 1558?–1592, English author. His short romances, written in the manner of Lyly's Euphues, include Pandosto (1588), from which Shakespeare drew the plot for A Winter's Tale, and Menaph...

Lee, Sir Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Sir Sidney, 1859–1926, English editor and author. He was editor (1891–1901) of the Dictionary of National Biography but is best known for his Life of William Shakespeare (1898, rev. ed. 1925)...

Sládek, Joseph Václav

(Encyclopedia)Sládek, Joseph Václav yôˈzĕf vätsˈläf släˈdĕk [key], 1845–1912, Czech poet and translator. He lived in the United States from 1868 to 1870. Sládek later taught English in Prague and tran...

Bedford, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Brian, 1935–2016, English actor, b. Morley, Yorkshire; studied Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London. During his long career, Bedford, who was adept at both tragedy and comedy, performed on...

Scott, George C.

(Encyclopedia)Scott, George C. (George Campbell Scott), 1927–99, American actor, b. Wise, Va. Fiery and intense, Scott played his first major roles in Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and As You Like It for t...