Fred Astaire, Dancing Film Star and Elegant Showman
A Broadway star who ventured to Hollywood mid-career, Fred Astaire quickly became the era’s icon of grace, style and perfection. Alone or with a...
Leo Szilard, Physicist and Contributor to the Manhattan Project
Leo Szilard, the Hungarian Jewish physicist, molecular biologist and inventor, worked on the Manhattan Project but expressed himself as a “scientist of conscience,” using...
Lauren Bacall, Actress
Lauren Bacall got her start at age 19 as a sultry screen siren alongside future husband Humphrey Bogart, 25 years her senior. She went...
Mae West, Hollywood Star of the 1930s
Comic actress and playwright Mae West was known for her bold sensuality, clever one-liners and resurrection of Paramount Studios. She was the first actress...
Coretta Scott King, First Lady of Civil Rights
Coretta Scott King was more than just the wife of a legend, she was a singer, an organizer and an activist in her own...
Sir Laurence Olivier, Stage and Screen Actor
Considered by many to be the greatest actor of the 20th century, Laurence Olivier changed the landscape of theater and film in his time,...
Alex Haley, Author of “Roots”
Characterized by his slow, honeyed voice, Alex Haley was one of America’s most popular oral and written storytellers. His timeless novel “Roots” illuminates and...
Arthur Ashe, Tennis Star and Human Rights Activist
Arthur Ashe was one of the most accomplished tennis players of his generation and the only African-American man to win a Grand Slam title,...
Noam Chomsky, Influential Linguist and Activist
The founder of modern linguistics and one of the most esteemed (and controversial) political theorists and activists of our age, Noam Chomsky has inspired,...
Neil Armstrong, First Man to Walk on the Moon
A pilot at 16, astronaut Neil Armstrong’s early years were spent in the skies, but his later years have been grounded in academia and...
