She negotiated herself a high salary from D.W. Griffith while she was still a teenager, made dozens of films in a huge variety of roles, co-founded one of today’s major studios, and was the first Hollywood producer to bring over a major European director.
Author: Matthew Westphal
What *Really* Goes On Behind The Scenes At Medieval Times
“At Atlas Obscura, we write about places, people, and phenomena that engender wonder and delight. Usually that’s stuff like bone churches, hidden beaches, and abandoned amusement parks. But what qualifies as ‘wondrous’ depends on so many things.”
The New York Times Writes William Shakespeare’s Obituary
“‘To be or not to be,’ said Hamlet, prince of Denmark, ‘that is the question.’ Yesterday, Hamlet’s creator was; today, he is not. Of that there is no question. The poet, playwright, actor and theatrical-company shareholder William Shakespeare (sometimes spelled Shakspeare, Shagspere, Shaxpere, Shaxberd or any number of blessed ways) died today, April 23, 1616, at home in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was, more or less, 52.”
Guy Hamilton, 93, Director Known For James Bond Films
“The film-maker worked with Sean Connery on Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever and Roger Moore on Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun. … He [slao] worked with Michael Caine on Battle of Britain and the Harry Palmer thriller Funeral in Berlin and with Harrison Ford on the 1978 adaptation of Force 10 from Navarone.”
Eurovision Expels A Country For The First Time In Its History
The European Broadcasting Union says that the country’s broadcaster has accrued more than $16 million in unpaid dues since 2007. To drive the point home, the EBU announced the decision just a few weeks before the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest.”
A Competition For Robot Artists – With $100K In Prize Money
Thirty-one teams from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia are competing in the 1st-Annual International RobotArt Competition. Votes from the public will help select the winner.
How A Memoir About Homosexuality And Suicide Was Sold (Very Successfully) As A Family-Friendly Musical
“Tom Greenwald recalled the main goal for marketing the show: ‘Make sure that it’s never ever associated specifically with the ‘plot or subject matter,” he said, ‘And make sure that people realize that it’s a beautiful, universal, family story of self-identification, reflection, and ultimately, hope.'”
Is Recreating The Palmyra Arch Really A Good Idea? Opinions Differ – A Lot
Generous initial offer to help in reconstructing the ruined city, or empty gesture of solidarity? Public educational endeavor, or merely another selfie magnet? And the questions don’t stop there.
Five Years A Slave: When Cervantes Was Captured By Pirates (He Never Got Over It)
“In 1575, after fighting in military campaigns against the Turks in the Mediterranean, the Spaniard was captured by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers. There, he was kept as a slave for five years. … Cervantes told and retold his own account of enslavement: in plays, poetry and novellas … [and in] the tale told by a captive in Part 1 of Don Quixote.”
The Rise And Rise Of Pirate Libraries (And No, That Doesn’t Mean Collections Of Books About Buccaneers)
“All around the world, shadow libraries keep growing, filled with banned materials. But no actual papers trade hands: everything is digital, and the internet-accessible content is not banned for shocking content so much as that modern crime, copyright infringement. But for the people who run the world’s pirate libraries, their goals are no less ambitious for their work’s illicit nature.”