Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Adams, Maude

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Maude, 1872–1953, American actress, b. Salt Lake City, Utah. Her father's name was Kiskadden, but she used her mother's maiden name. She began acting at an early age and became leading lady t...

Lawrence, Gertrude

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence, Gertrude, 1902?–1952, English actress and singer. Her original name was Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence-Klasen. Performing on the musical stage from childhood, Lawrence made her New York...

Gordon, Ruth

(Encyclopedia)Gordon, Ruth, 1896–1985, American actress and playwright, b. Wollaston, Mass. From her debut as Nibs in Peter Pan (1915), Gordon's career encompassed broad stage and film experience. Among the plays...

Nattier, Jean-Marc

(Encyclopedia)Nattier, Jean-Marc zhäN-märk nätyāˈ [key], 1685–1766, French painter; son of the painter Marc Nattier and the miniaturist Marie Courtois. His early works include historical and mythological pai...

Mary, persons in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the New Testament. 1 Mary, the Virgin. 2 Mary Magdalene. 3 Wife of Cleophas. 4 Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus and Martha. She sat at Jesus' feet while Martha served. She has come to symbo...

Cushman, Charlotte Saunders

(Encyclopedia)Cushman, Charlotte Saunders ko͝oshˈmən [key], 1816–76, one of the first outstanding American actresses, b. Boston. Cushman turned from opera to drama and in 1835 first played Lady Macbeth, the ro...

Draga

(Encyclopedia)Draga dräˈgä [key], 1867–1903, queen consort of King Alexander of Serbia. A widow and a lady in waiting to the king's mother, Draga Mašin (Mashin) was accused by general rumor of a shady and pro...

Wister, Owen

(Encyclopedia)Wister, Owen wĭsˈtər [key], 1860–1938, American author, b. Philadelphia, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1882; LL.B., 1888). Trips to the West for his health gave him material for his short stories and for ...

Barbari, Jacopo de'

(Encyclopedia)Barbari, Jacopo de' yäˈkōpō dā bärbäˈrē [key], c.1440–1516, Germano-Dutch painter and engraver, b. Venice. Barbari was a major link between North European and Italian art; his and Dürer's ...

starling

(Encyclopedia)starling, any of a group of originally Old World birds that have become distributed worldwide. Starlings were released in New York City in 1890; since then the common, or European, starling (Sturnus v...
 

Browse by Subject