Alaina Reed Hall (November 10, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American actress and singer who portrayed Olivia Robinson, Gordon's younger sister, on the PBS children's television series Sesame Street, and Rose Lee Holloway on the NBC sitcom 227.
Francis Planté (2 March 1839 – 19 December 1934) was a French pianist famed as one of the first ever recording artists.
Planté was born in Orthez. He studied piano under Antoine Marmontel, his career beginning at the age of seven in Paris. While there he met and befriended many like-minded musicians who would have a long-lasting effect on his career. These included Franz Liszt, with whom he played arrangements of two of Liszt's symphonic poems (Les Préludes, and Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo) for 2 pianos, Hector Berlioz, Gioachino Rossini, Charles Gounod, Felix Mendelssohn, Sigismond Thalberg and Charles-Marie Widor.
He toured the concert platforms of Europe after leaving Paris, expanding his reputation for quality of tone and virtuosic, emotional interpretations. The death of his wife in 1908 resulted in him retiring from the stage, except for charity performances and concerts in aid of those wounded in the First World War. He had many pupils, including Alexander Brailowsky. He died in Saint-Avit.
Planté is featured in the 1999 DVD The Art of Piano, in which a short excerpt from the film of him playing Chopin's Étude in C, Op. 10 No. 7 can be seen.
Francis Planté's style is considered very different from modern-day recording artists. The recordings available suggest a more paced performance with a more prominent accent on each beat and with the notes more pronounced.
Recordings that Planté made include:
Chopin: Études Op. 10, Nos. 4, 5 and 7
Chopin: Études Op. 25, Nos. 1, 2, 9 and 11
Berlioz: Serenade
Mendelssohn: Scherzo in E, Op. 16, No. 3.
Boccherini: Minuet
Alexis Arnaldus Gilliland (born August 10, 1931 in Bangor, Maine) is an American science fiction writer and cartoonist. He resides in Arlington, Virginia.
Gilliland won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1982, notably beating David Brin and Michael Swanwick for the honor. Gilliland also won four Hugo Awards for Best Fan Artist (1980, 1983, 1984, 1985), the Rotsler Award (Lifetime Achievement in Fan Cartooning) in 2006, and the Tucker Award (for Excellence in Partying) in 1988.
He and his first wife Dolly (died 1991) hosted meetings of science fiction fans in his home approximately once a month from November 1967 until July 2006, and twice monthly since. In 1993 he married Lee Uba (née Elisabeth Swanson).
Emmanuel Berl (2 August 1892 – 21 September 1976) was a French journalist, historian and essayist. He was born at Le Vésinet in the modern département of Yvelines, and is buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris. In 1937 he married the singer, composer and film actress Mireille Hartuch; she had nicknamed him "Théodore" (which is what appears on their tomb). Berl was the cousin of Lisette de Brinon.
Simone "Simca" Beck (7 July 1904 – 20 December 1991) was a French cookbook writer and cooking teacher who, along with colleagues Julia Child and Louisette Bertholle, played a significant role in the introduction of French cooking technique and recipes into American kitchens.
Paul Louis Marius Ricard (French pronunciation: [pɔl lwi maʁjys ʁikaʁ]; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and the developer of two Mediterranean islands, as well as the builder of the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.
