Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  Pacheco, Johnny (Juan Azarías Pacheco Knipping), 1935-2021, Dominican-American salsa musician, bandleader, and recording executive, b. Santiago de lo...

(Encyclopedia)  May, Elaine, 1932-, American actress, film director, and writer, b. Philadelphia, Pa., as Elaine Iva Berlin. May’s parents were both actors; her fat...

(Encyclopedia) Heizer, Michael, 1944–, American sculptor and painter, b. Berkeley, Calif., studied San Francisco Art Institute (1963–64). Heizer was one of the artists who developed land art in the late 1960s an...

(Encyclopedia)  Smothers Brothers, American comedians, musicians, and TV hosts. Tom (b. February 2, 1937,as Thomas Smothers) and Dick (b. November 20, 1939, as ...

(Encyclopedia) Prim, Juan hwän prēm [key], 1814–70, Spanish general and statesman. A Catalan officer, he fought for Isabella II against the Carlists and became one of the chief factional leaders in the fierce po...

(Encyclopedia) Baldessari, John (John Anthony Baldessari), 1931–2020, American artist, b. National City, Calif., grad. San Diego State College (now Univ.; B.A., 1953; M.F.A., 1957). A founder of conceptual art, he...

(Encyclopedia)  Sahl, Mort, 1927-2021, American comedian and social commentator, b. Montreal, Canada, as Morton Lyon Sahl, Univ. of Southern Calirofnia (B.A., 1950). ...

(Encyclopedia) Graham, Billy (William Franklin Graham) grāˈəm [key], 1918–2018, American evangelist, b. Charlotte, N.C., grad. Wheaton College (B.A., 1943). Graham was ordained a minister in the Southern Baptis...

(Encyclopedia)  Grant, Mudcat, 1935-2021, African-American baseball player, b. Lacoochee, Fl., as James Timothy Grant Jr. As a teenager, Grant played baseball, footba...

(Encyclopedia)  LL Cool J , 1968- , African-American rapper and actor, b. Queens, N.Y., as James Todd Smith. Smith had a tragic upbringing, with his father shooting bo...