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Jay, Ricky

(Encyclopedia) Jay, Ricky, 1946–2018, American magician, actor, and writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Richard Jay Potash. The grandson of a fine amateur magician, Jay first performed at age four and as a…

pantomime

(Encyclopedia) pantomime or mimemimepănˈtəmīm [key] [Gr.,=all in mimic], silent form of the drama in which the story is developed by movement, gesture, facial expression, and stage properties. It is…

clown

(Encyclopedia) clown, a comic character usually distinguished by garish makeup and costume whose antics are both humorously clumsy and acrobatic. The clown employs a broad, physical style of humor…

Hammond, John Henry

(Encyclopedia) Hammond, John Henry, 1910–87, American record producer; blues, jazz, and rock promoter; and music critic, b. New York City. A member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family, he entered the…

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia) Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his…

Nichols, Mike

(Encyclopedia) Nichols, Mike, 1931–2014, American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the…

Jarrett, Keith

(Encyclopedia) Jarrett, Keith , 1945- , American jazz pianist and composer, b. Allentown, Pa. A child prodigy on the piano, Jarrett was exposed to…

Dahl, Roald

(Encyclopedia) Dahl, RoaldDahl, Roaldrōˈäl [key]Dahl, Roald däl [key], 1916–90, British writer known for inventive, often macabre children's books and horror-tinged adult fiction. Dahl spurned a…

Baldwin, James

(Encyclopedia) Baldwin, James, 1924–87, American author, b. New York City. He spent an impoverished boyhood in Harlem, became a Pentecostal preacher at 14, and left the church three years later. He…