Actors

James Stewart The Actor And The Man

My favorite actor of all time is Jimmy Stewart. I stumbled upon him in a funny way. My husband (at the time he was my boyfriend) opened the world of Jimmy Stewart for me. He loved classic movies and watched them often. We were both teenagers then and...

Christopher Reeve

I grew up on the original Superman films. Christopher Reeve was one of my first crushes and remains the "real" Superman for me. This lens is dedicated to one of the coolest guys to grace celluloid and definitely the coolest to wear the red...

Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly Birth: 23 August 1912 Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Death: 2 February 1996 (age 83) Best Known As: Dancing star of Singin' In The Rain

John Ritter

I think one of my first crushes was on John Ritter's character Jack Tripper on "Three's Company". He was such a funny guy and seemed like a real person. That was John Ritter's gift - the ability to portray a regular guy. &n...

Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger (born April 4, 1979 - died January 22, 2008) Already something of an established actor in his native Australia, upon Ledger's move to the United States, he appeared in "10 Things I Hate About You", but he felt as though he was being ste...

Adventurers

Christopher McCandless

Like many people, I first heard of Christopher McCandless after stumbling across the book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. I remember finding it in the travel narrative section of the bookstore when I was searching specifically for "road" n...

Advocates

Helen Keller

Helen Keller, American author and lecturer, who was deaf and blind and who served as an inspiration for other people with disabilities. She was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, the daughter of well-to-do parents: Arthur Keller, a former officer in the Con...

Ryan White

Ryan White was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS at age 13, in a time where society was still ignorant and fearful of HIV and AIDS. He contracted it through a Factor 8 treatment, which was a popular treatment at the time for hemophilia, a conditio...

Steve Biko

Steve Biko was a South African anti-aprtheid leader who died in prison of brain injury after being beaten by Pretoria police.

Architects

Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright had an amazing ability to make art out of ordinary objects and materials. He was inspired by nature & geometric patterns and tried to achieve simplicity, unity, and harmony in his designs. He designed private residence...

Artists

Leonardo Da Vinci

His full name is Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci, but most simply know him as Da Vinci or Leonardo Da Vinci. He was born on April 15, 1452 and died May 2, 1519. Most know him as a famous painter, but he was so much more.

Henri Rousseau

Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (May 21, 1844 - September 2, 1910) was a French Post-Impressionist painter in the Naive or Primitive manner. He is also known as Le Douanier (the customs officer) after his place of employment. Ridiculed during his...

Jackson Pollock

Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 - August 11, 1956) was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement... In the process of making paintings in this way he moved away from figurative representation, and...

M.C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher, one of the world's most famous graphic artists, lived from 1898 to 1972. When Escher was 21 he enrolled in the Haarlem School for Architecture and Decorative Arts. After a week he decided he would rather study graphic art ins...

Authors

Douglas Adams

While I can remember a time when I didn't like Douglas Adams' writings -- that time was before I read one word of his writings. Douglas Adams has held me enthralled from the first chapter and I have read (and, indeed own) everything by him that...

Shel Silverstein

Sheldon Alan "Shel" Silverstein (1930-1999) is one of America's most beloved authors of children's books. But children's literature was not his first passion. Like anyone else, Silverstein was a multifaceted human being with int...

C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and was educated at Cherbourg House, Malvern College, and Oxford. He was professor of medieval and renaissance English at the University of Cambridge. His conversion from atheism t...

Hunter Thompson

For many the good doctor is best known for his book and movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" however Hunter S. Thompson also endured a long and varied career in journalism. From sports to Rolling Stone, Hells Angels to Nixon,...

Isaac Asimov

Once upon a time, probably in the late seventies, my wife and I sat at a banquet table with Isaac Asimov and Jean Auel (it was before Jean was famous). It was a Portland, Oregon Mensa meeting. Isaac was the guest of honor but was relatively quie...

Children's Entertainers

Dr. Seuss

There are probably few children and grown-ups who haven't read at least one of the imaginative works of Theodor Geisel. The children's books of Dr. Seuss, such as the Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who and Green Eggs and Ham have become classics for...

Walt Disney

Walt Disney's work has had such an impact on the world that the mention of his name brings thoughts of animated movies, fantastic theme parks, and a certain superstar mouse, and it is easy to forget that behind the empire was a man with a vision. Thi...

Jim Henson

Of course, Jim Henson did much more than children's entertainment. He changed the world of puppetry forever and made both children and adults laugh, love and their imaginations ignite with his unique characters. This is my tribute to one of the most...

Bob Keeshan

Bob Keeshan aka Captain Kangaroo, my childhood role model and one of the world's greatest children's television actors of all time.

Mel Blanc

I always felt an affinity with him since he came from my home city.I once heard him speak in person; he came across as very kindly. A friend who knew him well, ("He was like my second father.") says he spoke in low tones and came...

Comedians

Richard Jeni

Richard Jeni was an outstanding comic. A funnyman in a league of his own. A comedian with a great sense of timing, quick off the mark and intelligent enough to write his own material (and also for others). He could take any subject and turn it on its...

Mitch Hedberg

With his nervous, shy delivery, laidback style, and goofy one-liners, Mitch Hedberg had a loyal cult following but never quite found mainstream success before his untimely death in 2005.

Red Skelton

O.K. this is pretty thin. This brush with celebrity was truly a brush. I was attending a meeting in the grand old hotel of Portland, Oregon, The Benson--since changed owners and names. As I stood before the lobby elevator waiting to go up,...

Chris Farley

Chris Farley was born on February 15, 1964, and was raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Chris studied theatre and communications at Marquette University. Chris later worked as a member of the Second City Theatre where he was discovered by Lorne...

Doctors

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, MD

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross has the distinction of writing the first best selling book on a topic that no one wanted to discuss. On Death and Dying, written in 1969 is still required reading for many medical, nursing, psychology programs and college de...

Ignaz Semmelweis

Ignaz Semmelweis was one of the first physicians to recognize the importance of Hand Washing prior to examining patients. Having spent so much time washing hands prior to seeing patients and prior to scrubbing into surgery, it is hard for me to imag...

Historical Icons

Katharine Wright

You learned the story of the Wright Brothers in school, but some of the juicy bits were left out. The Wright Brothers may (or may not) have had a third partner--their sister Katharine. History is unclear on her role--some say she was the real br...

Francis Scott Key

Many things had to occur to ensure that Francis Scott Key has his place in the history books of The United States of America. If Major Armistead hadn't wanted to thumb his nose at the British by having such a huge flag at his fort, or if Key ha...

Hollywood Cowboy Heroes

Gene Autry

Gene Autry - succeeded at just about anything he undertook: radio, records, songwriting, movies, TV, real estate and business. Known as 'America's Favorite Singing Cowboy', he is the only entertainer to have five stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. He...

Roy Rogers

In 1943 Republic Studios declared Roy Rogers to be the "King of the Cowboys". The cowboy superstar from Duck Run, Ohio, fit the silver-saddle throne like no man before or since. As a sagebrush movie hero, he shot the straightest, and rode t...

Clayton Moore

Hi Ho Silver, Awayyy . . . CLAYTON MOORE as - The Lone Ranger In today's world of multi-million dollalr sports, rock and television stars and super-stars the term and concept of ROLE MODEL; is often used and abused repeatedly. In the 1950 's CLAYTON...

Hopalong Cassidy

Hopalong Cassidy and William Boyd were familiar names during the 1940's and 50's. The hero in black rode across the plains of the old west and into living rooms across America in his fight for law and order. Whenever a bad guy needed a lesson taught...

Humanitarians

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale helped to mold the fields of nursing and public health. She earned the nickname "The Lady With the Lamp" for her tireless nursing care delivered to British soldiers during the Crimean War (1853–1856). Although most...

Clara Barton

When it comes to having heroes - Clara Barton is the type of person I like to think about. All that she was able to accomplish is amazing enough, but that she was able to accomplish it as a woman in the era she lived, well, that is spectacular....

Musicians

Joe Strummer

I've been listening to The Clash for 26 years and the voices of Joe Strummer and Mick Jones have played out the soundtrack of my life, as members of The Clash and in the projects they've done since. I know their voices intimately and they bring me en...

Billy Thorpe

Billy went from clean-cut pop idol in the 60's and evolved into a gritty rocker of the 70's. Best known for "Most People I Know Think That I’m Crazy", it became an rock anthem acquiring legendary status. Billy Thorpe died February 28, 2...

Duane Allman - Skydog

Howard Duane Allman, born November 20, 1946 - died October 29, 1971, was an American lead guitarist and noted session musician. Duane Allman was #2 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.

Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith was a singer, songwriter, and musician. His acoustic guitar and sweet, whispery voice created beautiful songs that often focused on his history of depression, drug addiction, and alcoholism. Although he was best known for the Oscar-nomi...

Nick Drake

Nick Drake, who died aged 26 in 1974, is regarded as one of the most influential acoustic songwriters in British music. The coroner's verdict was suicide, but to this day Nick's family still believe his death was a tragic accident, the result of an o...

Naturalists

John Muir

The United States is forever indebted to John Muir, the "Father of the National Park Service" for helping to preserve this countries greatest treasures, our National Parks. John Muir (1838-1914) was America's most famous and influen...

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, was a bigger than life personality. Passionate and enthusiastic about everything that he did and the way that he lived. Perhaps that is why it was so hard for people to believe the news of his unexpected death. ...

Outlaws

Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly should have gone down in history as a criminal, an outlaw and despised. However his influence and story has grown into the legend. He's now painted as a renegade, rebel, rogue and rascal.

Pirates

Edward Teach

Blackbeard is probably the most famous and well known of all pirates. He was certainly one of the most dreaded and feared pirates of all time.

Captain Kidd

Kidd had to be once of the unluckiest pirates ever to become famous. The poor guy seemed plagued by one misfortune after and other. He was eventually caught, tried and hanged in 1701.

Pirate Walter Kennedy

Served with Bartholomew Roberts in the early 1700’s plundering the Spanish Maine.

Calico Jack the Pirate

John Rackham sailed under Pirate Captain Charles Vane until he and the crew mutinied and took charge of the pirate ship The Treasure. Calico Jack then went on to a short but very successful career as a pirate Captain i...

Morgan The Pirate

Henry Morgan 1635-1688 Morgan was an admiral and general, country gentleman and planter, custos and judge of the court of Vice-Admiralty, governor and a knight. He was also the most ruthless and feared pirate of all time.

Poets

Vita Sackville-West

I have been fascinated by Vita Sackville-West for over a decade. This woman was so many extraordinary things: author, biographer, poet, correspondent, wife, mother, lover, aristocrat, gardener and so much more. And she did each with...

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, MA. Born into a well-off and well-educated, Emily continued the tradition of education. She never wed, and lived out her life with her family. She left the house very little,...

Political Figures

Abigail Adams

Learn more about this inspirational and influential First Lady Of The United States I have always been fascinated by Abigail Adams. She was an educated and opinionated woman in a time when they were a rare breed and as the wife and later mother of a...

Isabel Peron

In 1974, Isabel Person of Argentina became not only the youngest Latin American head of state, but the first woman ever to be elected president anywhere in the world.

Howard Metzenbaum

If you grew up in the Cleveland area, then you grew up knowing the name of Howard Metzenbaum. He served both in the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate, then in the United States Senate. He was a well known, easily recognized face - and...

Benazir Bhutto

When Benazir Bhutto was first elected Prime Minister of Pakistan at 35, she became the youngest chief executive in the world and the first woman elected ruler of a Muslim country in modern history. She served two non-consecutive terms, but later was...

Ronald Reagan - Fearless Leader, Devoted Husband, Great Man

I was only a child when Ronald Reagan took office, but each time I saw him on my television screen, it was like looking at my second dad. He was a role model and father figure - a leader I looked up to and respected. As I now sit watching the de...

Religious & Spiritual Figures

Anthony De Mello, Christian inspiration from India

Influenced the world through his powerful understanding of the human condition. Through the use of parables and teaching stories, de Mello pointed the way to authentic living. The influence of spiritual traditions outside mainstream Christianity is c...

Blavatsky : Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Blavatsky compared the science of her day, studied the world religions and came up with her own synthesis, which she called 'theosophy', or ancient wisdom.

William James - mystic, psychologist, philosopher

Influential in the young sciences of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James. Without ignoring Jame...

Mohandas Gandhi

Find more wisdom Mohandas is his proper name but Mahatma is an affectionate title meaning "Great Soul" which was given to him out of love and the wish to honor him

Annie Besant, teacher, lecturer, secularist and theosophist...

Minister's wife, student of medicine, raised a prophet, reformer, secularist and more. Annie Besant (1847-1933) was many things in her lifetime - and living in the 19th and early 20th century, all of those things were revolutionary for a woman to be...

Royalty

Shih Huang Ti, First Emperor of China | Qin Shi Huang

Shih Huang Ti (or Qin Shi Huang Ti) was heir to the throne of Chin, a powerful feudal state in northwest China. On his accession he set about uniting China, annexing the other feudal states with ruthless efficiency, aided by espionage, brib...

Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly. Even just her name is elegant. And, that is not even taking into account her work or her life. Her success in films meant a lot to her, and she walked away from that for love and marriage...and to be a princess. H...

Diana Princess of Wales

I was one of the thousands of people, who were stunned and in shock 10 years ago by the tragic death of Princess Diana and then a few days later the death of Mother Teresa. As I watched the enormous worldwide outpouring of grief for the deaths of the...

Princess Di

Princess Diana Facts: Dates: July 1, 1961 - August 31, 1997 Occupation: consort, Charles, Prince of Wales; charity worker; celebrity Known for: charity work; press focus on her fashion image; public scandals Also known as: Lady Diana Frances Spencer,...

Scientists

Nikola Tesla - the man who invented the twentieth century

Probably the most creative and prolific scientist of the 20th Century, Nikola Tesla was at the forefront of so many scientific disciplines. Yet due to his inability to get on with his fellow scientists he was more or less osterised by the scine...

George Washington Carver

As a botany and agriculture teacher to the children of ex-slaves, Dr. George Washington Carver wanted to improve the lot of "the man farthest down", the poor, one-horse farmer at the mercy of the market and chained to land exhausted by cott...

Sex Symbols

Jayne Mansfield: Sex Symbol

Jayne Mansfield, was a sex symbol. She pushed the limits. Often overshadowed by Marilyn Monroe, Jayne broke boundaries. Though her life was cut short, Jayne Mansfield lived life more then most. She suffered trag...

Marilyn Monroe: Icon of an Era

Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) was an actress, singer, and model. Born Norma Jeane Mortenson, she was destined for fame. Marilyn was married to Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller, and allegedly had affairs with President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, a...

Anna Nicole Smith

Anna Nicole Smith's death on Thursday, 8 February 2007, mirrored that of her son, Daniel, just five months previously, both succumbing to lethal cocktails of prescription drugs and alcohol. Daniel died just three days following the birth of...

Singers

Luciano Pavarotti

I still remember the first time I really heard Pavarotti sing. Growing up, there was always music playing in the house, but this time I heard the music and was impressed and mesmerized by what I heard. I was about eight. Ac...

Freddie Mercury - Queen

Freddie Mercury, lead singer for the Rock Band Queen, was once quoted as saying that he didn't want to be a rock star, he wanted to be a legend. While alive, Freddie Mercury was known as an entertaining and energetic rock star. Since his death at the...

Aaliyah | American Rhythm and Blues Singer, Dancer, Model and Actress

Aaliyah, R&B Professional Singer ~ In her precious 22 years, Aaliyah achieved more than many do in several lifetimes. An illuminating factor was her conviction to touch and help others. When considering Aaliyah's track record, it's befitting that...

Gary Primich

Gary Primich was an amazing blues singer and harmonica player. A native of the midwest, he began playing the harmonica as a child and mastered playing the blues in Chicago. Whether playing with his own band or in gigs with other musicians, Gary...

Conway Twitty

I am happy to admit that I had the opportunity to see Conway Twitty perform live. I was very embarrassed about it at the time - more so because I was going with my mother and sister-in-law. He was performing in a small hall in Northern Ca...

Sportspeople

Scott Kalitta

This lens is dedicated to the life and career of Scott Kalitta who tragically lost his life on June 22, 2008.

Fireball Roberts

Born Jan. 20, 1929. Often considered the greatest driver never to win a NASCAR Winston Cup title, Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Jr accumulated 32 wins in a career that spanned 15 seasons before his untimely death in 1964 from injuries in...

Johnny Owen

It`s not the size of the man in the fight that matters, it`s the size of the fight in the man!!! For Johnny © Rainbow 2007/2008 Hi and Welcome. This is a loving personal tribute to my beloved Johnny. I hope you will enjoy your...

TV Personalities

Tim Russert

Tim Russert, NBC's Washington Bureau Chief, tragically died on June 13, 2008 after suffering a heart attack while at work. Russert was 58 years old. Russert became famous for his interview style on the Sunday morning talk show "Meet the Press."

James Kim

The Kim Family story was one that gripped people's attention in late November 2006. The family went missing November 25 when they took a wrong turn traveling home to San Francisco after spending Thanksgiving in Portland. At the time of the story more...