Tom Powers
Thomas McCreery Powers (July 7, 1890 – November 9, 1955) was an American actor in theatre, films, radio and television. A veteran of the Broadway stage, notably in plays by George Bernard Shaw, he created the role of Charles Marsden in Eugene O'Neill's ''Strange Interlude''. He succeeded Orson Welles in the role of Brutus in the Mercury Theatre's debut production, ''Caesar''. In films, he was a star of Vitagraph Pictures and later became best known for his role as the victim of scheming wife Barbara Stanwyck and crooked insurance salesman Fred MacMurray in the film noir classic, ''Double Indemnity'' (1944). Career Thomas McCreery Powers was born in 1890 in Owensboro, Kentucky. His father, Colonel Joshua D. Powers, was a banker; his uncle was sculptor Hiram Powers. Tom Powers' mother loved the theatre and enrolled him at ballet school at age three. He entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at age 16, and he studied drama, wrote and produced plays, and practiced ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Owensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Louisville, and is the principal city of the Owensboro metropolitan area. The 2020 census had its population at 60,183. The metropolitan population was estimated at 116,506. The metropolitan area is the sixth largest in the state as of 2018, and the seventh largest population center in the state when including micropolitan areas. History Evidence of Native American settlement in the area dates back 12,000 years. Following a series of failed uprisings with British support, however, the last Shawnee were forced to vacate the area before the end of the 18th century. The first European descendant to settle in Owensboro was frontiersman William Smeathers or Smothers in 1797, for whom the riverfront park is named. The settlement was originally kn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vitagraph
Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907, it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros. in 1925. History In 1896, English émigré Blackton was moonlighting as a reporter/artist for the New York ''Evening World'' when he was sent to interview Thomas Edison about his new film projector. The inventor talked the entrepreneurial reporter into buying a set of films and a projector. A year later, Blackton and business partner Smith founded the American Vitagraph Company in direct competition with Edison. A third partner, distributor William "Pop" Rock, joined in 1899. The company's first studio was located on the rooftop of a building on Nassau Street in Manhattan. Operations were later moved to the Midwoo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Three Sisters (play)
''Three Sisters'' (russian: Три сeстры́, translit=Tri sestry) is a play by the Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov. It was written in 1900 and first performed in 1901 at the Moscow Art Theatre. The play is sometimes included on the short list of Chekhov's outstanding plays, along with ''The Cherry Orchard'', ''The Seagull'' and ''Uncle Vanya''. Characters The Prozorovs * Olga Sergeyevna Prozorova (Olga) – The eldest of the three sisters, she is the matriarchal figure of the Prozorov family, though at the beginning of the play she is only 28 years old. Olga is a teacher at the high school, where she frequently fills in for the headmistress whenever the latter is absent. Olga is a spinster and at one point tells Irina that she would have married "any man, even an old man if he had asked" her. Olga is very motherly even to the elderly servants, keeping on the elderly nurse/retainer Anfisa, long after she has ceased to be useful. When Olga reluctantly takes the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Man Who Came To Dinner
''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert Morley and Coral Browne. In 1990, Browne stated in a televised biographical interview, broadcast on UK Channel 4 (entitled ''Caviar to the General''), that she bought the rights to the play, borrowing money from her dentist to do so. When she died, her will revealed that she had received royalties for all future productions and adaptations. Synopsis The play is set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio in the weeks leading to Christmas in the late 1930s. The famously outlandish New York City radio wit Sheridan Whiteside ('Sherry' to his friends) is invited to dine at the house of the well-to-do factory owner Ernest W. Stanley and his fa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Apple Cart
''The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza'' is a 1928 play by George Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional English King Magnus as he spars with, and ultimately outwits, Prime Minister Proteus and his cabinet, who seek to strip the monarchy of its remaining political influence. Magnus opposes the corporation " Breakages, Limited", which controls politicians and impedes technical progress. Shaw's preface describes the play as: The play was completed in December 1928 and first performed in Warsaw (in Polish) the following June. Its English première was at the first Malvern Drama Festival in August 1929. Shaw based King Magnus largely on himself. He modelled the enigmatic and pivotal character Orinthia, the King's mistress, on Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the actress who had created the role of Eliza Doolittle in Shaw's ''Pygmalion''. The " ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Arms And The Man
''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Avenue Theatre and published in 1898 as part of Shaw's '' Plays Pleasant'' volume, which also included '' Candida'', '' You Never Can Tell,'' and ''The Man of Destiny.'' ''Arms and the Man'' was one of Shaw's first commercial successes. He was called on to stage after the curtain, where he received enthusiastic applause. Amidst the cheers, one audience member booed. Shaw replied, in characteristic fashion, "My dear fellow, I quite agree with you, but what are we two against so many?" ''Arms and the Man'' is a humorous play that shows the futility of war and deals comedically with the hypocrisies of human nature. Plot summary The play takes place during the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian War. Its heroine, Raina Petkoff, is a young Bulgarian woman enga ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Androcles And The Lion (play)
''Androcles and the Lion'' is a 1912 Play (theatre), play written by George Bernard Shaw. The play is Shaw's retelling of the tale of Androcles, a slave who is saved by the requiting mercy of a lion. In the play, Shaw portrays Androcles to be one of the many Christians being led to the Colosseum for torture. Characters in the play exemplify several themes and takes on both modern and supposed early Christianity, including the cultural clash between teachings of Jesus, Jesus' teachings and traditional Roman values. Characters *Androcles (main character) *The Lion *Magaera *Centurion *Captain *Lavinia *Lentulus *Metellus *Spintho *Ferrovius *Ox-Driver *Call Boy *The Editor *Menagerie Keeper *Caesar *Secutor *Retiariu Plot Androcles, a fugitive Christian tailor, accompanied by his nagging wife, is on the run from his Roman persecutors. While hiding in the forest he comes upon a wild lion who approaches him with a wounded paw. His wife runs off. Androcles sees that the cause of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Wild Duck
''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. ''The Wild Duck'' and ''Rosmersholm'' are "often to be observed in the critics' estimates vying with each other as rivals for the top place among Ibsen's works." Characters * Håkon Werle, a wholesale merchant * Gregers Werle, his son * Old Ekdal, the former business partner of Håkon Werle * Hjalmar Ekdal, Old Ekdal's son, a photographer * Gina Ekdal, his wife * Hedvig, their daughter, aged fourteen * Mrs. Sørby, housekeeper and fiancée of Håkon Werle * Relling, a doctor, lives below the Ekdals * Molvik, formerly a student of theology, lives below the Ekdals * Pettersen, servant to Håkon Werle * Jensen, a hired waiter * Mr. Balle, a dinner guest * Mr. Flor, a dinner guest Plot The first act opens with a dinner party hosted by Håkon Werle, a wealthy merchant and industrialist. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Broadway Theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names (12 others used neither), with many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also using the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, are the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and the Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare is eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theaters, and it is also closely identified with Times Square, only three of the theaters are located on Broadway itself (namely the Broadwa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Bunny
John Bunny (September 21, 1863 – April 26, 1915) was an American actor. Bunny began his career as a stage actor, but transitioned to a film career after joining Vitagraph Studios around 1910. At Vitagraph, Bunny made over 150 short films – many of them domestic comedies with the comedian Flora Finch – and became one of the most well-known actors of his era. Life and career Bunny was born in Brooklyn, New York and educated in New York public schools. The son of an English father and an Irish mother, he initially worked as a clerk in a general store before joining a small minstrel show at the age of twenty. In a stage career spanning twenty-five years, Bunny worked for a number of touring and stock theater companies, with stints in Portland, Seattle, and various cities on the east coast. Bunny eventually worked his way into Broadway, where he was in productions such as ''Aunt Hannah'' (1900), ''Easy Dawson'' (1905), and the Astor Theatre's inaugural production of ''A Midsumme ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alma Taylor
Alma Louise Taylor (3 January 1895 – 23 January 1974) was a British actress. Life Taylor was born in London. She made her first screen appearance as a child actor in the 1907 film ''His Daughter's Voice''. She went on to appear in more than 150 film roles, appearing in a number of larger-budget films such as '' Shadow of Egypt'' which was shot on location in Egypt in 1924. Taylor was one of the major British stars of the 1910s and early 1920s. In 1915 she was voted the most popular British performer by readers of ''Pictures and the Picturegoers'', comfortably beating Charlie Chaplin into second place. She acted only occasionally after 1932, appearing in films such as '' Lilacs in the Spring'', ''Blue Murder at St Trinian's'', and '' A Night to Remember'' during the 1950s. On television, she started twice in Armchair Theatre, in 1957: she played Mrs. Castor and Greta Stenbourg. She died in London at the age of 79.The Shadow of Egypt''. British Film Institute, retriev ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young (born Edith Matilda Clara Kimball; September 6, 1890 – October 15, 1960) was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era. Early life Edith Matilda Clara Kimball was born in Chicago on September 6, 1890, the only child to Edward Kimball and Pauline Madeline Kimball (née Garrette, 1860–1919), both of whom were traveling stock actors. She made her stage debut at the age of three, and throughout her early childhood traveled with her parents and acted with their theater company. She attended St. Francis Xavier Academy in Chicago. Afterward, she was hired into a stock company and resumed her stage career, traveling extensively through the United States and playing in various small town theaters. Early in her career, she met and married a fellow stock company and known Broadway actor named James Young. Young's previous wife had been the songwriter/lyricist Rida Johnson Young. After sending a photograph to Vitagraph Studios, Clara ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |