Ray Charles, Legendary Musician

Nicknamed “The Genius” for his ability to weave musical genres together and excel in all areas of performance, Ray Charles was a distinctly American...

Andrea Bocelli, Opera and Pop Singer

An idyllic farm surrounded by vineyards and olive groves in the Tuscan countryside was the setting for Andrea Bocelli’s childhood. But this soft-spoken singer,...

Niccolò Paganini, Violinist and Composer

Playing with a skill so dazzling and in so eerie a manner that it was seen as supernatural, violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini is...

Katharine Hepburn, Legendary Actress

For more than six decades, Katharine Hepburn mesmerized audiences with her regal accent, classic beauty and exceptional acting. Her fiercely independent, unconventional persona and...

Julie Andrews, Actress and Singer

Julie Andrews became famous as the star of Broadway’s “My Fair Lady” and “Camelot” and Hollywood’s “Mary Poppins,” “The Sound of Music” and “Victor/Victoria.”...

Marie Antoinette, Former Queen of France

The most beautiful daughter of the Austrian emperor, Marie Antoinette was guaranteed a life of privilege. But as the teen bride of French King...

Queen Noor al-Hussein of Jordan

Queen Noor of Jordan has strayed from the comfort of her wealthy upbringing, focusing on difficult humanitarian issues, marrying a Muslim king and speaking...

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Father of Transcendentalism

Ralph Waldo Emerson—essayist, minister, poet and philosopher from New England—was the founding father of the transcendentalist movement and the creator of many literary works...

Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher

“Nietzsche’s actual thought is a…system, at the beginning of which stands the death of God…the ensuing nihilism, and at its end the self-surmounting of...

William Shakespeare, Playwright, Poet and Actor

“He was not for an age but for all time,” said Ben Jonson in the dedication to William Shakespeare’s 1623 First Folio. It may...