Sidney Poitier, Pioneering African-American Actor
Sidney Poitier was the child of tomato farmers in the Bahamas. He moved to New York as a teenager and worked as a dishwasher...
Saul Bellow, American Novelist
“The backbone of 20th-century American literature”—this was novelist Philip Roth’s assessment of Saul Bellow. His struggle with modernism, his Jewish upbringing, his feelings of...
Stevie Wonder, Musician, Producer and Activist
Stevie Wonder, the Motown sensation, chart topper, producer and humanitarian, has been in the spotlight for four decades.
Early Days
Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born prematurely...
Marlon Brando, Stage and Motion Picture Star
Arguably the greatest actor of his generation, Marlon Brando combined his talent for subtle emoting with a rejection of the traditional methods of approaching...
Peter Sellers, Impressionist and Comedic Actor
The shape-shifting aspects of Peter Sellers made him one of the most versatile actors around—his many faces, voices and impressions lending themselves to characters...
Magic Johnson, Legendary Basketball Player
His nimbleness on the court earned him the nickname “Magic,” and Earvin Johnson has truly lived up to it. Whether he was facing rival...
Catherine Hughes, Radio and TV Executive
From a high school dropout and single teenaged mother to the first woman owner of a number one radio station and the first African-American...
Wyatt Earp, Legendary Tombstone Lawman
Wyatt Earp has become an icon in American lore, known as the legendary lawman who, with his brothers and Doc Holliday, battled the Clanton...
Mark Spitz, Swimming Legend
Mark Spitz was a brash swimming prodigy who overcame disappointment in the 1968 Olympics to win seven gold medals in 1972, setting a record...
Osamu Tezuka, Japan’s “God of Comics”
Osamu Tezuka has been called the “god of comics” in Japan. After writing his first comic strip in third grade, Tezuka published his first...
