Designed primarily for use by students and theatre generalists, this volume contains biographical sketches, arranged alphabetically, of over 300 individuals distinguished for their stage directing. It includes both contemporary directors and those who are no longer working. Emphasis is on artists who have international reputations, especially those whose work has had an impact on American theatre. Each entry profiles the director's life and assesses the significance of his or her accomplishments, provides a list of productions not mentioned in the narrative, and includes a bibliography. The work also includes appendixes, providing a selected bibliography, and indexes of names and plays.

The first book to analyze and celebrate Baltimore's underappreciated jazz tradition, Music at the Crossroads shines new light on legends such as Eubie Blake and Cab Calloway, honors neglected figures such as Ellis Larkins, Hank Levy, and Ethel Ennis, pays tribute to the legacies of Pennsylvania Avenue and the Left Bank Jazz Society, and analyzes the current Baltimore jazz scene.

Thanks to Steve Parkhouse's wonderfully vivid illustrations and Jim McCarthy's clever distillation of the script that rewrote rock 'n' roll and much else besides, the Pistols' story returns to the rough and tumble of the comic strip from which it derived so much of its initial inspiration.

Though he appeared in only six films, James Dean is still frequently discussed some 30 years after his death in an accident at the age of 24. This book provides full production information, plot synopses, review excerpts, and critical commentary for Dean's roles in Fixed Bayonets (1951), Sailor Beware (1951), Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), East of Eden (1955), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and Giant (1956). It also details his stage, radio, and television work, and includes an extensive annotated bibliography. This comprehensive guide synthesizes the tremendous amount of information available about Dean's life and legacy. Included are chapters on his work in stage, film, radio, and television; entries in each chapter provide production information, plot synopses, review excerpts, and critical commentary about each of his performances. The book also examines his unrealized projects and his survival in various tributes and recordings. An extensive annotated bibliography directs the reader to sources of additional information about Dean's fascinating hold on the American imagination.

What keeps you from overcoming obstacles in your life and walking in peace and joy in the Lord? Can you free yourself from the bondage of your past mistakes and learn to develop an identity in Christ? After a lifetime of regret, Robert "Stonewall" Jackson asked himself these hard questions, and the answers he found radically altered his world.

With writing that is honest and self-disclosing, The Life and Legend of Robert "Stonewall" Jackson reveals how Jackson overcame drugs, addiction, and mental and physical war trauma to emerge a survivor. What's more, it shares the awesome power of how developing a relationship with Christ held the key to his success.

From his stint playing with the Oakland Raiders to his time in prison for drug dealing, Jackson uses personal anecdotes to illustrate how God has worked in his life. He explores the doubts, fears, and perplexities he experienced and demonstrates how he found comfort and guidance in his faith. Today an award-winning bodybuilder and caregiver to his grandchildren, Jackson is committed to a close relationship with Christ and a strong dedication to total body fitness.

No matter what age or life journey you are currently experiencing, God's grace and the value of believing in yourself can turn things around. Let Jackson's story inspire and motivate you to change your life

Elinor Remick Warren's distinguished career as a composer, concert pianist, and accompanist for renowned singers spanned seventy-five years of American musical history. She began writing music in 1904 at age four. Her first published composition, a song, was accepted by G. Schirmer in 1916. Thereafter, her compositions appeared regularly through 1990. Her full oeuvre is cataloged here along with performance information, discography, and review and critical commentary, all of which is carefully documented, cross-referenced, and indexed. A biographical sketch is supplemented by a long interview conducted by the author with Warren four years before the composer's death in 1991. Among the useful appendixes are textual sources for Warren's many vocal compositions.

Dr. George Washington Sheafor was a Baptist evangelist and pastor who lived during the years that the United States was growing, the population was moving westward, and new territories and states were being added. His teaching and preaching ministry spanned seventy-six years, beginning in 1892 through his death at age 96 in 1968. His pioneer ministry began in Arizona while it was still a territory. As a young man he worked on a ranch taming wild horses off the range and preached to some of the ranch hands with whom he worked. He attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois, and was mentored by Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist of his day. He also studied the life and teachings of Andrew Murray and patterned his life after this great English teacher and preacher. He began preaching revival meetings in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. During his pastoral ministry, he served in Comanche and Brownwood, Texas; Lawton, Oklahoma; and in Lancaster, Texas. Dr. Sheafor's pastoral ministry changed in 1941 when he became a Bible teacher at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. His name is synonymous with the teaching of Bible prophecy. In all of his teaching and preaching, Dr. Sheafor majored on the wonderful promises that God has given to every born-again believer. He presented the joy and the glory to be experienced by every believer in the Rapture, the Second Coming of Jesus, and the New Heaven and New Earth. His wealth of knowledge concerning prophecy was inimitable and he was loved and admired by all who heard him speak, including many of the professors at Dallas Theological Seminary and Dr. W.A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas for all of the twenty-three years that Dr. Sheafor taught the class that now bears his name.

View, through the eyes of a child and teenager, the scene of growing up in the glamorous Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s During childhood, the author visited or auditioned at almost every major movie studio in Tinseltown. What was it like to work on the set of Hal Roach's Little Rascals? To be given a screen test with one of Hollywood's greatest directors? To be told "never again to call" the office of Columbia Pictures studio boss, Harry Cohn? To receive from one of the Marx Brothers, the gift of a camera? Author Laura June Kenny experienced all this and more. Her memoir provides a unique look at a Hollywood and a Southern California that is no more, and cannot be replaced. Born disadvantaged in the worst year of the Great Depression, her fate was to be discovered and to be loved by a disparate group of people who inspired her to reach for the "real stars," and thereby find her stardom. Filled with rare photos from the author's own collection, this is the story of a Hollywood moppet turned teacher, writer, public speaker, emcee, wife, mother, grandmother, and what she learned along the way

There have been many books written on the Hollywood legend, James Dean, but never before have we had a chance to hear from the real Jimmy Dean. Now, for the first time, Dean speaks in his own words as he is channeled through Patricia A. Leone, a long-time admirer of the motion picture star and metaphysical practicioner. James Dean/ The Lost Memoirs is an incrediably realistic look into Dean's life, transporting the reader to another place and time. As you read each entry in his journal you become closer than ever before to the man behind the legend. Five decades ago this farm boy took the world by storm, and the fascination with Dean continues to this very day. Now, through this book, we are privvy not only to this legendary actor's own words, but also his own most private and innermost thoughts. He writes with intensity about his insecurity concerning acting, his stormy relationship with Pierre Angeli, his broken heart over the death of his mother, his constant flirtation with death, and encounters with Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe, Shelly Winters, Rock Hudson, Martin Landau, Elizabeth Taylor and Sal Mineo. He also devuleges intimate details about others who had the opportunity to be called his friends. The author, in a remarkable series of channeled sessions with Dean that were conducted over the course of several months, was able to break through to the other side and give Dean this opportunity on the 50th anniversary of his death to share with us his own epiloge to his life. It is the real and intimate side of Jimmy Dean, one that has never been presented to the public before. This remarkable book is must reading for Dean fans. It is written in journal form just as the star, himself, might have written it, and includes his thoughts, memories, and opinions beginning with the death of his mother at age nine until the day just before his fatal motorcycle accident on September 30, 1955.

Though chiefly remembered as the dance partner of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers had many other significant achievements in the entertainment world. She was a dancer, singer, comedienne, and Academy Award winning dramatic actress, as well as the highest paid Hollywood star in 1942. Miss Faris provides a detailed record of Ginger Roger's life and career, painting a picture of her as one of the most versatile performers in the United States. The volume begins with a short biography of Ginger Rogers, along with a succinct chronology of the major events in her life and career. These portions of the book provide a context for the chapters that follow, which contain annotated entries for her stage, film, radio, and television performances. The entries provide production information and cast listings, along with excerpts from reviews and critical commentaries. An extensive annotated bibliography lists books, magazine and newspaper articles, and movie trade publications that provide further information about Ginger Rogers's fascinating career.

'There is no one on earth quite so wonderful' STEPHEN FRY 'As outrageously entertaining as you'd expect' Daily Express BAFTA-winning actor, voice of everything from Monkey to the Cadbury's Caramel Rabbit, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, MIRIAM MARGOLYES, OBE, is the nation's favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Now, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story - and it's well worth the wait. Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John as a teenager; why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had; and what happened next after Warren Beatty asked 'Do you fuck?' From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with brilliant, hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author.

Peter Sellers's explosive talent made him a beloved figure in world cinema and continues to attract new audiences. With his darkly comic performances in Dr. Strangelove and Lolita and his outrageously funny appearances as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, he became one of the most popular movie stars of his time. Sellers himself identified most personally with the character he played in Being There--an utterly empty man on whom others projected what they wanted, or needed, to see. In this lively and exhaustively researched biography, Ed Sikov offers unique insight into Sellers's comedy style. Beginning with Sellers' lonely childhood with a mother who wouldn't let go of him, through his service in the Royal Air Force and his success on BBC Radio's The Goon Show, Sikov goes on to detail his relationships with co-stars such as Alec Guinness, Sophia Loren, and Shirley MacLaine; his work with such directors as Stanley Kubrick, Billy Wilder, and Blake Edwards; his four failed marriages; his ridiculously short engagement to Liza Minnelli; and all the other peculiarities of this eccentric man's unpredictable life. The most insightful biography ever written of this endlessly fascinating star, Mr. Strangelove is as comic and tragic as Peter Sellers was himself.

Journey of an American Muslim is an epic journey into the life of the author. It's a biography that is uncompromising in its authenticity and honesty. Muslims and non-Muslims will appreciate its candor as the author shares his experiences in the four phases of his development into his life as a Muslim in America. In this book you will discover: -The major influences that encouraged the Author to study and later become a Muslim. -How the Author transitioned from being a very "zealous" Muslim in the beginning; to discovering "spirituality" while taking more risks in his practice of the Muslim life; to becoming an open minded "truth seeker" who happens to be Muslim. -In candid detail how the Author survived multiple marriages (learning experiences), the loss of two good paying professional jobs, foreclosure of his home and working at Wal-Mart for 3 1/2 years earning what he considers "survival income." Journey of an American Muslim is a personal journey and an odyssey of major proportions for any human being. Muslim or non-Muslim, to have to experience. One wonders how on could survive such a personal drama, financial upheaval and professional setbacks. This author not only experienced the epic journey, but lived to tell about it.

For more than eight years, I lived and worked in the dark underworld of Las Vegas as an exotic dancer. Some things are worth repeating--others you try to forget. Unfortunately, you never forget. I decided it was time that somebody told the truth about what really happens in Las Vegas strip clubs and their VIP rooms. Is there "sex in the champagne room?" With the right dancer and for right price, there is anything you want in the champagne room! This book gives a lot of insight into what really happens when men are turned loose on the Las Vegas scene. I think men and women alike will be interested in reading about what really happens in Vegas. See what the dark twenty-four-hour world of Vegas is really like. See what an insider has to say about the life of an exotic dancer.

Celebrated for his use of expressive brush marks, which filled his paintings with dynamism, light and colour in a way not seen before in Renaissance art, Tiziano Veccellio became the greatest painter 16th-century Venice had ever known. In the first half of her beautiful new book, Susie Hodge explores Titian's fascinating life through his family, friends, patrons and commissions. Starting out as a young apprentice in the great city of Venice, Titian grew up surrounded with spectacular works of art, architecture and sculpture. His early influences and remarkable achievements are explained clearly with informative and attractive illustrations throughout. The second half of the book contains a comprehensive gallery of over 300 of Titian's major works. of art, each of which is accompanied by a thorough analysis of the artwork and its significance within the context of Titian's life, his rapidly changing technique and his body of work as a whole.

Joy Postle Blackstone was best known for her vivid murals, often depicting the jubilant wading birds of Florida. When she died in 1989, the world lost a wonderful artist but Joy was much more than a painter. Joy s father died when she was only three; her childhood was spent nurtured by her mother and brother, until she began her career at the Chicago Art Institute.

After graduation, her life changed, as she and her family moved to rural Idaho to live on the family homestead. There, she met her husband, Bob, and so began their three-year honeymoon, in the midst of the Great Depression. Joy painted and Bob promoted. They lived a vagabond life. They eventually settled in Florida, where Joy made friends with the birds who would make her murals legend.

"Joy Cometh in the Morning" traces an artist s life from 1896 through to her death in 1989. Joy Postle Blackstone harbored the psychological scars of abortion, infidelity, childlessness, death, and the eventual limitations of advanced age; yet, as the Bible says, Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Through feast or famine, hope or despair, Joy persevered, and she did it with a smile.