Peggy Lee, Actress and Award-Winning Jazz-Pop Singer

Peggy Lee was a prolific, Grammy Award-winning vocalist, Academy Award-nominated actress and songwriter. Renowned for her emotive voice and sensual delivery, her most famous...

Salvador Dalí, Spanish Surrealist Artist

The artistic career of surrealist master Salvador Dalí transcends the limitations of medium, encompassing painting, writing, sculpture and filmmaking. Dalí’s wild imagination made a...

Clarence Darrow, Renowned American Lawyer

Clarence Darrow participated in many controversial and highly publicized trials, tirelessly defending the underdog and fighting for civil rights. Never afraid to speak his...

Melvin Van Peebles, Writer, Director and Actor

Melvin Van Peebles has been called a renaissance man, displaying his multi-genre talents writing screenplays, novels, plays and music, in addition to acting in...

Jim Thorpe, the “Greatest Athlete in the World”

Jim Thorpe is acknowledged to be one of the greatest ever all-around athletes, a man who excelled in football, track, baseball and any other...

Nat King Cole, Singer and Jazz Pioneer

Nat King Cole’s musical upbringing forged a career that would delve the nuances of the jazz trio and fashion a more subtle approach to...

Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Author of “Out of Africa”

Karen Blixen may be the best-known Danish writer of the 20th century, authoring books such as “Seven Gothic Tales,” “Winter’s Tales” and “Out of...

Rainer Maria Rilke, Author of “Letters to a Young Poet”

Rainer Maria Rilke spent his life traveling the globe. Despite a variety of lovers and locales—Prague, Munich, Rome, Paris and Switzerland—Rilke remained alone, seeking...

Edward R. Murrow, Pioneering Broadcast Journalist

Reporter during World War II, host of radio and television news shows, and head of the United States Information Agency, Edward R. Murrow was...

Walt Whitman, “America’s Poet”

Walt Whitman helped transform the literary scene in the United States during the 19th century, becoming one of the most influential poets of his...