1.
West Berlin
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West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the city of Berlin during the Cold War. It was formally controlled by the Western Allies and formed a de facto part of West Germany, and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an island of freedom. A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its liberal and cosmopolitan character. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the biggest population of any city in Cold War Germany and it was 100 miles east of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors established in 1945 and was de facto part of West Germany and it had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western Allies. East Berlin, de jure occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, was the de facto capital of East Germany, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided West Berlin from its East German surroundings until it fell in 1989. The Potsdam Agreement established the framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II. The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former territories of Germany. The remaining territory would be divided into four zones, each administered by one of the allied countries, according to the agreement, the occupation of Berlin would end only as a result of a quadripartite agreement. The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and the Soviets also informally allowed road, at first, this arrangement was intended to be only a temporary administrative structure, with all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin would soon be reunited. However, as the relations between the allies and the Soviet Union soured and the Cold War began, the joint administration of Germany. Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied Berlin had separate city administrations, in 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade. The West responded by using its air corridors for supplying their part of the city with food, in May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed, however, in cases this proved only temporary. In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, as a direct result the electrical grids were separated and phone lines were cut. However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
2.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
3.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
4.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
5.
Berlin International Film Festival
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The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the Berlinale, is one of the worlds leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held annually in Berlin, Germany, founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With around 300,000 tickets sold and 500,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly attended film festival based on actual attendance rates. Up to 400 films are shown in sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the called the Golden and Silver Bears. Since 2001 the director of the festival has been Dieter Kosslick, the European Film Market, a film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, is a major industry meeting for the international film circuit. The trade fair serves distributors, film buyers, producers, financiers, the Berlinale Talent Campus, a week-long series of lectures and workshops, gathers young filmmakers from around the globe. It partners with the festival itself and is considered to be a forum for upcoming artists, the festival, the EFM and other satellite events are attended by around 20,000 professionals from over 130 countries. More than 4200 journalists are responsible for the exposure in over 110 countries. At high-profile feature film premieres, movie stars and celebrities are present at the red carpet, the Berlinale has established a cosmopolitan character integrating art, glamour, commerce and a global media attention. The Berlin International Film Festival was founded in West Berlin in 1951, alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca opened the first Berlinale. Although the film had premiered in 1940, many Germans had been unable to watch it until after the war ended, since 1978 the festival has been celebrated annually in February. The next-to-most recent festival, the 66th Berlinale, was held from 11 February to 21 February 2016, meryl Streep presided over the international jury. Joel and Ethan Coens film Hail, Caesar. was selected to open the festival, the Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian documentary Fire at Sea, directed by Gianfranco Rosi. The 67th Berlin International Film Festival was held February 9 to February 19,2017, the festival is composed of seven different film sections. Films are chosen in each category by a director with the advice of a committee of film experts. Categories include, Competition, comprises feature-length films yet to be released outside their country of origin, films in the Competition section compete for several prizes, including the top Golden Bear for the best film and a series of Silver Bears for acting, writing and production. Panorama, comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles, films in the category are intended to provoke discussion, and have historically involved themes such as LGBT issues
6.
Sophie Scholl
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Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans. As a result, they were executed by guillotine. Since the 1970s, Scholl has been commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance work. She entered junior or grade school at the age of seven, learned easily, in 1930, the family moved to Ludwigsburg and then two years later to Ulm where her father had a business consulting office. In 1932, Scholl started attending a school for girls. At the age of twelve, she chose to join the Bund Deutscher Mädel and her initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to criticism. She was aware of the political views of her father, friends. Even her own brother Hans, who once participated in the Hitler Youth program. Political attitude had become an essential criterion in her choice of friends, the arrest of her brothers and friends in 1937 for participating in the German Youth Movement left a strong impression on her. She had a talent for drawing and painting and for the first time came into contact with a few so-called degenerate artists, an avid reader, she developed a growing interest in philosophy and theology. In spring 1940, she graduated from school, where the subject of her essay was The Hand that Moved the Cradle. Scholl nearly did not graduate, having lost any desire to participate in the classes which had largely become Nazi indoctrination, being fond of children, she became a kindergarten teacher at the Fröbel Institute in Ulm. She also had chosen this kindergarten job hoping that it would be recognized as a service to Reichsarbeitsdienst. This was not the case, though, and in spring 1941 she began a stint in the auxiliary war service as a nursery teacher in Blumberg. The military-like regimen of the Labor Service caused her to very hard about the political situation as well as to begin practicing passive resistance. After her six months in the National Labor Service, in May 1942, she enrolled at the University of Munich as a student of biology and her brother Hans, who was studying medicine there, introduced her to his friends. Although this group of friends eventually was known for their views, they initially were drawn together by a shared love of art, music, literature, philosophy
7.
The Edukators
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The Edukators is a 2004 German-Austrian crime drama film directed by Hans Weingartner. It stars Daniel Brühl, Stipe Erceg and Julia Jentsch as three young, anti-capitalist Berlin activists involved in a love triangle, the friends, calling themselves the Edukators, invade upper-class houses, rearrange the furniture, and leave notes identifying themselves. Weingartner, a former activist, wrote the film based on his experiences, the film, shot in Berlin and Austria with digital hand-held cameras, was made on a low budget which Weingartner said kept the focus on the acting. First shown at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2004 and released in its home countries later that year, The Edukators was praised by critics and it grossed more than $8 million worldwide and received a number of awards and nominations. It did, however, receive criticism mainly for its political statements, set in 2004, the film revolves around three young anti-capitalist activists in Berlins city centre, Jule, her boyfriend Peter and his best friend Jan. Jule is a waitress struggling to pay off a €100,000 debt she incurred a year ago when she crashed into a Mercedes-Benz S-Class belonging to a businessman named Hardenberg. After her eviction for non-payment of rent she moves in with Peter and Jan, after hearing this, Jule convinces the reluctant Jan to break into Hardenbergs home in the affluent Berlin suburb of Zehlendorf while he is away on business. During the break-in, the thrill of the moment entices them to kiss before Jan leaves Jule alone for a few minutes, as she wanders around outside Jule accidentally sets off the houses floodlights, and they quickly leave. When Peter returns the next day, Jan and Jule do not tell him about their activities the night before, Jule realises that her mobile phone is gone, and she and Jan leave later that night to look for it in the house. After she finds it, Hardenberg walks in the door and struggles with Jule when he recognises her, hearing them, Jan comes downstairs and knocks Hardenberg unconscious with a flashlight. Not knowing what to do, they call Peter and he comes to their aid, the three cannot decide what to do with Hardenberg and take him to a remote, rarely used cabin belonging to Jules uncle in the Tyrolean Austrian Alps near Jenbach, overlooking Achensee. As they try to decide how to deal with their hostage, a leader of the Socialist German Student Union, he was a good friend of Rudi Dutschke before marrying, getting a good job and abandoning his ideals. As the story progresses, political ideology and the characters become the main issues. Peter and Jan temporarily fall out over Jans developing romance with Jule, the trio finally decide that kidnapping Hardenberg was wrong and take him back to his house to let him go. As they prepare to leave, Hardenberg gives Jule a letter forgiving her debt, the film ends with Peter, Jan and Jule asleep in the same bed as a group of heavily armed police gather outside their flat and knock on the door. Jule wakes up when she hears a knock, and the police force their way into the almost-empty flat, apparently in Barcelona, Jule opens the door to a hotel maid who wishes to clean their room. In the Berlin apartment, the find a note, Manche Menschen ändern sich nie. In the original German version, the Edukators set off in Hardenbergs boat in the Mediterranean, according to Weingartner, The Edukators was influenced by his past as a political activist, Theres some of me in the film
8.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
9.
Anna Magnani
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Anna Magnani was an Italian stage and film actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, along with four international awards. Born in Rome, she worked her way through Romes Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs, during her career, her only child was stricken by polio when he was 18 months old and remained crippled. She was referred to as La Lupa, the perennial toast of Rome, time magazine described her personality as fiery, and drama critic Harold Clurman said her acting was volcanic. In the realm of Italian cinema she was passionate, fearless, and exciting, director Roberto Rossellini called her the greatest acting genius since Eleonora Duse. Playwright Tennessee Williams became an admirer of her acting and wrote The Rose Tattoo specifically for her to star in, a role for which she received an Oscar in 1955. As an actress she became recognized for her dynamic and forceful portrayals of earthy lower-class women in films as LAmore, Bellissima, The Rose Tattoo, The Fugitive Kind. As early as 1950 Life magazine had stated that Magnani was one of the most impressive actresses since Garbo. Magnanis parentage and birthplace are uncertain, some sources suggest she was born in Rome, others in Egypt. Magnani herself stated that her mother was married in Egypt but returned to Rome before giving birth to her at Porta Pia and she was enrolled in a French convent school in Rome where she learned to speak French and play the piano. She also developed a passion for acting from watching the stage their Christmas plays. This period of formal education lasted until the age of fourteen and she was a plain, frail child with a forlornness of spirit. Her grandparents compensated by pampering her with food and clothes, yet while growing up, she is said to have felt more at ease around more earthly companions, often befriending the toughest kid on the block. This trait carried over into her life when she proclaimed. Give me the life of the streets, of common people, at age 17, she went on to study at the Eleonora Duse Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome for two years. To support herself, Magnani sang in nightclubs and cabarets, leading to her being dubbed the Italian Édith Piaf, however, an actor friend Micky Knox, writes that she never studied acting formally and started her career in Italian music halls singing traditional Roman Folk songs. She had the ability to call up emotions at will, to move an audience, stage She was considered an outstanding theatre actress in Anna Christie and The Petrified Forest and had a successful career in variety shows. Early film roles In 1933 she was acting in plays in Rome when she was discovered by Italian filmmaker Goffredo Alessandrini
10.
Shirley MacLaine
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Shirley MacLaine is an American film, television and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author. She is known for her New Age beliefs, and has an interest in spirituality and she has written a series of autobiographical works that describe these beliefs, document her world travels, and describe her Hollywood career. She has also won five competitive Golden Globe Awards and received the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award at the 1998 ceremony. Named after Shirley Temple, Shirley MacLean Beaty was born in Richmond, MacLaines younger brother is the actor, writer and director Warren Beatty, he changed the spelling of his surname when he became an actor. Their parents raised them as Baptists and her uncle was A. A. MacLeod, a Communist member of the Ontario legislature in the 1940s. MacLaine played baseball in a team, holding the record for most home runs which earned her the nickname Powerhouse. During the 1950s, the family resided in the Dominion Hills section of Arlington. As a toddler she had weak ankles and would fall over with the slightest misstep and this was the beginning of her interest in performing. Strongly motivated by ballet, she never missed a class, in classical romantic pieces like Romeo and Juliet and The Sleeping Beauty, she always played the boys roles due to being the tallest in the group and the absence of males in the class. Ultimately she decided against making a career of professional ballet because she had grown too tall and was unable to acquire perfect technique and she explained that she didnt have the ideal body type, lacking the requisite beautifully constructed feet of high arches, high insteps and a flexible ankle. Also slowly realizing ballets propensity to be too all-consuming, and ultimately limiting, she moved on to forms of dancing, acting. She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was on the cheerleading squad, the summer before her senior year, she went to New York City to try acting on Broadway, and had some success. After she graduated, she returned and within a year became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in The Pajama Game, Haney broke her ankle, a few months after, with Haney still injured, film producer Hal B. Wallis saw MacLaines performance, and signed her to work for Paramount Pictures and she later sued Wallis over a contractual dispute, a suit that has been credited with ending the old-style studio star system of actor management. MacLaine made her debut in Alfred Hitchcocks The Trouble with Harry. This was quickly followed by her role in the Martin and Lewis film Artists, soon afterwards, she had a role in Around the World in 80 Days. This was followed by Hot Spell and a role in Some Came Running, for the latter film she gained her first Academy Award nomination. Her second Oscar nomination came two years later for The Apartment, starring with Jack Lemmon, the film won five Oscars, including Best Director for Billy Wilder
11.
Madhur Jaffrey
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Madhur Jaffrey, CBE is an Indian-born actress, food and travel writer, and television personality. She has written over a dozen cookbooks and appeared on several related programs, the most notable of which was Madhur Jaffreys Indian Cookery. She is the food consultant at Dawat, considered by many critics to be among the best Indian restaurants in New York City. She has appeared in dramas on radio, stage and television and her childhood memoir of India during the final years of the British Raj, Climbing the Mango Trees, was published in 2006. Madhur Jaffrey was born Madhur Bahadur on 13 August 1933 in Civil Lines, Delhi and she is the fifth of six children of Lala Raj Bans Bahadur and his wife, Kashmiran Rani. Madhurs grandfather, Rai Bahadur Raj Narain, had built a family compound, named Number 7 Raj Narain Marg. When Madhur was about 2 years old, her father accepted a position in a concern, Ganesh Flour Mills. In Kanpur, Madhur attended St. Mary’s Convent school along with her sisters, Lalit. In kindergarten at the age of 5, she played the role of the mouse in a musical version of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The family lived in Kanpur for 8 years until her grandfathers deteriorating health caused a back to Delhi in 1944. In Delhi, Madhur attended Queen Marys Higher Secondary School where her teacher, Mrs McKelvie. Madhur played the role of Titania in William Shakespeares play A Midsummer Nights Dream followed by the role in Robin Hood. Madhurs brothers, Brij Bans Bahadur and Krishen Bans Bahadur, who were older than her, were enrolled in St. Stephens College. Every winter, St. Stephens students put on a Shakespearean play that Madhur would watch avidly from the front row, in 1947, Madhur experienced first-hand the effects of the partition of the British Indian Empire. At school, her classmates split into two on the issue of partition, the Muslim girls supported the idea while the Hindus were against it. On August 15 she watched the transfer of power at India Gate and got a glimpse of Jawaharlal Nehru. The massive multi-directional migration that began almost immediately afterwards caused riots, the male members of her family guarded their house with guns that they had previously used only for hunting game. At school, all her Muslim classmates left without a farewell, in 1948, a few days before Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead, she attended one of his prayer meetings at Birla House and sang bhajans
12.
Elizabeth Taylor
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Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress, businesswoman, and humanitarian. She began as an actress in the early 1940s, and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She continued her career successfully into the 1960s, and remained a well known figure for the rest of her life. The American Film Institute named her the seventh-greatest female screen legend in 1999, Born in London to wealthy, socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939, and she soon was given a film contract by Universal Pictures. Her screen debut was in a role in Theres One Born Every Minute. Taylor was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and had her breakthrough role in National Velvet, becoming one of the studios most popular teenaged stars. She made the transition to adult roles in the early 1950s, despite being one of MGMs most bankable stars, Taylor wished to end her career in the early 1950s, as she resented the studios control and disliked many of the films to which she was assigned. She began receiving roles in the mid-1950s, beginning with the epic drama Giant. These included two film adaptations of plays by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Suddenly, Last Summer, although she disliked her role in BUtterfield 8, her last film for MGM, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. She was next paid a record-breaking $1 million to play the role in the historical epic Cleopatra. During the filming, Taylor and co-star Richard Burton began having an affair which caused a scandal. Despite public disapproval, Burton and she continued their relationship and were married the first time in 1964. Dubbed Liz and Dick by the media, they starred in 11 films together, including The V. I. P. s, The Sandpiper, The Taming of the Shrew, and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Taylor received the best reviews of her career for Woolf, winning her second Academy Award, in the 1980s, she acted in her first substantial stage roles and in several television films and series, and became the first celebrity to launch a perfume brand. Taylor was also one of the first celebrities to take part in HIV/AIDS activism and she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. From the early 1990s until her death, she dedicated her time to philanthropy and she received several accolades for it, including the Presidential Citizens Medal. Taylors personal life was subject to constant media attention throughout her life and she was married eight times to seven men, endured serious illnesses, and led a jet set lifestyle, including amassing one of the most expensive private collections of jewelry. After many years of ill health, Taylor died from heart failure at the age of 79 in 2011
