Truman Capote, Investigative Journalist and Author

Writer Truman Capote emerged from the small town of Monroeville, Alabama, to become one of the most visible writers of the 1950s and ’60s....

Joseph Heller, Author of “Catch-22”

Brooklyn-born author Joseph Heller is best known for coining the phrase “Catch-22” in his tragicomic World War II novel of the same name. Joseph Heller’s...

Barbra Streisand, Singer, Actor, Director and Producer

In an industry dominated by larger-than-life personalities, Barbra Streisand is quite capable of holding her own. For decades, a unique style, strong sense of...

Chuck Yeager, American Pioneer of Flight

Driven by an unshakable sense of duty and a love of life in the air, Chuck Yeager has spent decades pushing the boundaries of...

Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood Actress

Elizabeth Taylor spent her life on camera. She took her first screen test in 1939 at age seven and worked as an actress until...

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...

Tim Burton, Director and Animator

Tim Burton is a maverick auteur in a world where filmmakers are often relegated to pleasing Hollywood studios and producers. But his quirky and...

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), Baroque Painter

Michelangelo Merisi, popularly known as Caravaggio, spearheaded the Baroque movement, and his paintings are acclaimed for their realism and their depiction of the violent,...

Cecil B. DeMille, Hollywood Director

Cecil B. DeMille was one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. Not only did he produce and direct more than 70 films to...

Harry Houdini, Escape Artist Extraordinaire

During his short career, Harry Houdini’s “death-defying” feats astonished his audiences. People from all walks of life came to watch Houdini escape from shackles,...