Category: people

A century ago, Maude Adams was such a renowned actress that one critic described her as “the most popular person in the United States.” Peter Pan was the role that made her a superstar, and she was also famous for her Napoleon II. Yet the play she loved most was an adaptation of the old fable of Chanticleer.

He’d been acting professionally in British theatre, film, and television for seven decades when he was cast (at age 90) as Maester Aemon in HBO’s juggernaut. “With his bulky figure, small eyes and prognathous jaw, he usually played the type of character you would not want to bump into on a dark night in a darker alley, even though, in real life, Vaughan was known for his conviviality,”

As rock’s iconic drummers get to middle age and older, they’re suffering hearing loss and muscle and joint pain associated with a lifetime of hitting the skins.

“Under Brown’s leadership, GIA’s membership increased thirty-four percent and the budget was nearly doubled from 2008 to 2017. The organization also saw a large expansion of its programs, including the development of webinars, research, workshops, and forums on a wide array of topics including arts education; support for individual artists; cross-sector creative work in medicine, environment, and corrections; and many more. The 2016 GIA Conference was the largest in the organization’s 32-year history.”

It’s Mark Stryker, longtime arts writer for the Detroit Free Press. “Some of you will be surprised – maybe shocked – to learn that after 21 years as an arts reporter and critic at the Detroit Free Press, I am leaving the paper. Frankly, I’m kind of shocked to have just typed those words myself. I’m taking advantage of the voluntarily severance package that was offered to all newsroom employees. My last day is (gulp) Dec. 16.”

“Life has not been easy for Paradise Sorouri. In the past seven years, the 27-year-old has been forced to flee her country twice, received more death threats than she can count, and was brutally beaten by 10 men on the street and left to die. Her crime? She covers her head with a baseball cap instead of a hijab, raises her voice for women’s rights, and is Afghanistan’s first female rapper.”

“It turned out Keillor was scheduled to appear at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in less than 30 minutes. “Hotel and venue staff were searching for him, frantically,” Hallett wrote.”

Riz Ahmed, one of the stars of “Rogue One,” says he’s reached a level he didn’t even consider. “The action figure is like an extra level you didn’t know was there.” But he still gets searched every time he flies – the last time he was searched twice, only to get on the plane and find his face on the cover of the in-flight magazine.

Khandwani was a trailblazer who founded the Toronto-based Kalanidhi Festival for South Asian contemporary dance. “She was rabid about people coming to new things, for them to broaden the horizons of their artistry. She was a pioneer, a city builder, a cultural catalyst.”

Jonathan Valenta is a Christian tattoo artist whose life changed one day when Kim Kardashian’s younger sister, Kendall Jenner, got a white dot tattooed on a finger – and Instagrammed it.