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Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino , 1895-1926, American film actor, b. Italy as Rodolfo Guglielmi. He emigrated to the United States in 1913 and, after a brief career as a dancer and bit player, was an instant success in the film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), largely due to a steamy tango scene. His...
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camera
camera lightproof box or container, usually fitted with a lens, which gathers incoming light and concentrates it so that it can be directed toward the film (in an optical camera) or the imaging device (in a digital camera) contained within. Today there are many different types of camera in use, all...
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auteur
auteur , in film criticism, a director who so dominates the film-making process that it is appropriate to call the director the auteur, or author, of the motion picture. The auteur theory holds that the director is the primary person responsible for the creation of a motion picture and imbues it wit...
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Lon Chaney
Lon Chaney , 1883-1930, American film actor, b. Colorado Springs, Colo. Chaney was the son of deaf-mute parents. He made more than 150 silent films. A master of the use of grotesque, distorting makeup, he is best remembered for his work in horror films such as The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ...
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American Film Institute
American Film Institute (AFI), nonprofit organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve and catalog American films and television, to provide work grants for new and established filmmakers, and to increase recognition and understanding of th...
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Walt Disney
Walt Disney (Walter Elias Disney) , 1901-66, American movie producer and pioneer in animated cartoons, b. Chicago. He grew up in Missouri, in the small town of Marceline and in Kansas City. He moved to Chicago in 1917, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and began (1920) his career as a c...
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Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner 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 several popular musicals, including Brigadoon (1947, film 1954), Paint Your Wagon (1951, film 1969...
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Steve Martin
Steve Martin 1945-, American comedian, actor, and writer, b. Waco, Tex. An Emmy-winning television comedy writer in the late 1960s, he began performing stand-up comedy in the early 70s and became a recurrent guest host on Saturday Night Live beginning in the late 70s. His catchphrases, e.g., "I...
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Joshua Logan
Joshua Logan 1908-88, American theatrical and film director and writer, b. Texarkana, Tex. He directed several successes in New York, including Knickerbocker Holiday (1938) and Annie Get Your Gun (1946). Later he was director, producer, and coauthor of Mr. Roberts (1948), South Pacific (194...
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William Powell
William Powell 1892-1984, American movie actor, b. Pittsburgh. Powell made his stage debut in 1912. He played the dapper villain in such early films as Sherlock Holmes (1921), Romola (1924), and Beau Geste (1926). In sound films, his sonorous voice and elegant manner made him more popular as ...
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