Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries
Filterable archive covering centuries of intellectual, artistic, and moral contributions to the human story.
Hal David
(Harold Lane David)
Master American lyricist whose legendary partnership with composer Burt Bacharach produced dozens of timeless pop classics including 'What the World Needs Now Is Love', 'Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head', and 'I Say a Little Prayer'.
Jean-Luc Delarue
(Jean-Luc Delarue)
Influential French television presenter and media producer dubbed the 'golden boy of French television' who revolutionized conversational talk shows with his landmark program 'รa se discute' and production company Rรฉservoir Prod.
Phyllis Diller
(Phyllis Ada Driver)
Trailblazing American stand-up comedian whose wild hair, outrageous wardrobe, rapid-fire self-deprecating wit, and cackling laugh shattered barriers for women in stand-up comedy.
Tony Scott
(Anthony David Leighton Scott)
Dynamic British film director and younger brother of Ridley Scott, whose kinetic editing, saturated colors, and high-octane energy created Top Gun, Crimson Tide, and True Romance.
William Windom
(William Windom)
Distinguished American character actor and decorated World War II paratrooper who won an Emmy Award for 'My World and Welcome to It', immortalized as the tormented Commodore Decker in 'Star Trek' and Dr. Seth Hazlitt in 'Murder, She Wrote'.
Marvin Hamlisch
(Marvin Frederick Hamlisch)
Virtuoso American composer and conductor, one of only two people in history (with Richard Rodgers) to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and the Pulitzer Prize (PEGOT), famed for 'The Way We Were' and 'A Chorus Line'.
Chavela Vargas
(Marรญa Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesรบs Vargas Lizano)
Legendary Costa Rican-born Mexican singer whose raw, smoking, gravelly renditions of Mexican ranchera songs, defiance of gender conventions, and close friendship with Frida Kahlo made her an icon of Latin American culture.
Chris Marker
(Christian Franรงois Bouche-Villeneuve)
Enigmatic and visionary French filmmaker, photographer, and multimedia artist who invented the modern cinematic essay and created the sci-fi photomontage classic La Jetรฉe (1962).
Dianne Foster
(Olga Helen Laruska)
Canadian-born Hollywood film and television actress who starred opposite major legends including Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, and Mickey Rooney in 1950s classics like 'The Kentuckian' and 'Night Passage'.
Lupe Ontiveros
(Guadalupe Moreno)
Trailblazing Hispanic-American actress who estimated she played maids over 150 times while fearlessly fighting Hollywood ethnic stereotyping, acclaimed for her chilling turn as Yolanda Saldรญvar in Selena.
Frank Pierson
(Frank Romer Pierson)
Academy Award-winning American screenwriter and director who wrote cinema masterpieces including 'Cool Hand Luke' and 'Dog Day Afternoon', and served as president of both the Writers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Celeste Holm
(Celeste Holm)
Charming American actress who originated the role of Ado Annie in Broadway's Oklahoma!, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Gentleman's Agreement, and starred in All About Eve.
Ernest Borgnine
(Ermes Effron Borgnino)
Beloved American character actor and ten-year Navy veteran who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Marty (1955), starred in The Wild Bunch and The Poseidon Adventure, and voiced Mermaid Man in SpongeBob.
Andy Griffith
(Andy Samuel Griffith)
Legendary American actor and entertainer whose portrayal of Sheriff Andy Taylor in 'The Andy Griffith Show' and defense attorney Ben Matlock in 'Matlock' made him an enduring symbol of American television warmth and integrity.
Nora Ephron
(Nora Ephron)
Sharp-witted American journalist, essayist, and three-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter/director who reinvented modern romantic comedy with When Harry Met Sally..., Sleepless in Seattle, and You've Got Mail.
Bob Welch
(Robert Lawrence Welch Jr.)
American rock musician, singer, and songwriter who played guitar and sang in Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974 bridging their British blues and pop eras, later achieving solo platinum success with 'Sentimental Lady' and 'Ebony Eyes'.
Eduard Khil
(ะญะดัะฐัะด ะะฝะฐัะพะปัะตะฒะธั ะฅะธะปั)
Acclaimed Russian baritone and People's Artist of the RSFSR whose joyous vocal performances earned immense prestige in the Soviet Union, who achieved global viral fame in 2010 as 'Mr. Trololo' for his 1976 vocalise performance.
Richard Dawson
(Colin Lionel Emm)
Charismatic British-American actor and television host celebrated as Corporal Peter Newkirk on 'Hogan's Heroes' and the kissing host of 'Family Feud', as well as his iconic villainous turn in 'The Running Man'.