Category: people

“Although ‘This Land is Your Land,’ is Guthrie’s most famous song, he is also responsible for thousands of others, an autobiography (Bound for Glory) and scads of paintings and drawings … [in a] relatively brief career – Guthrie’s prime period of productivity lasted little more than a decade.”

He “was nominated 10 times for Tony Awards in the last 15 years and won twice, and whose work in opera, dance and regional theater made him one of the most prolific stage craftsmen of his generation.”

“Dame Edna Everage – the flamboyant alter-ego of comedian Barry Humphries for 57 years – took centre stage at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre to confirm that her farewell tour, Eat Pray Laugh!, would really be her final outing.” The 78-year-old Humphries hasn’t ruled out further appearances by his other characters, most notably the monstrously uncouth diplomat Sir Les Patterson.

Anne LeBaron is finally getting her moment in the musical sun. The composer’s “penchant for working with other musicians and designers across multiple art forms may have found its fullest expression in the multi-media Crescent City. LeBaron has said that the concept of hyperopera, which she has taught in CalArts classes, denotes ‘an opera resulting from intensive collaboration across all the disciplines essential for producing opera in the 21st century.'”

“Ernest Borgnine, the rough-hewn actor who seemed destined for tough-guy characters but won an Academy Award for embodying the gentlest of souls, a lonely Bronx butcher, in the 1955 film Marty, died on Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 95.”

And more: “She studied the piano at the Athens conservatoire. After the second world war, both Lina and her mother received certificates of appreciation from Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander for “faithfully and loyally” serving the allied cause. By Lina’s own account, she successfully led allied servicemen across Athens to safety, occasionally hiding them in her own bed. This must have been a memorable moment for those servicemen, as Lina was a famous beauty and became for a while a Chanel model.”

We all know about Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally, but that’s not Nora Ephron’s full legacy. “As well as a purveyor of beloved romantic comedies, Ephron was a trailblazing journalist, filmmaker and feminist, an astonishingly accomplished woman who generously shared her hard-won wisdom with younger writers.”

After the artist (now a Turner Prize-winning sculptor) graduated from art school in the ’80s, she moved to London’s East End. “‘I remember calling my mum from a phone box outside,’ she says, her voice on the edge of laughter, as it often seems to be. ‘There was blood all over it. I thought: “Oh my God, where have I moved to?”‘

“Strayed has a special talent for glimmering, golden turns of phrase that seem to hold all the promise and hope in the world — they’re Bible verses for a secular audience — but these are not the sort of cheesy mottos that you’ll find on, say, motivational posters on Pinterest. … Take for example: ‘The best thing you can possibly do with your life is to tackle the motherfucking shit out of love.'”

“‘He sat down and played a chord something like this and he said, “How many?”‘ [Szell biographer Michael] Charry says. ‘I said six or seven and he said, “Can you name them?” and I actually did name them. And, passing that, then we went to the rest of the audition. I had the feeling, though, that if my ear hadn’t been good enough, he would have said, “Thank you very much, but you may go.”‘”