Ragtime is a 1981 American film, directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1975 historical novel Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow. The action takes place in and around New York City, New Rochelle, and Atlantic City in the first decade of the 1900s, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time. The film is notable for featuring the final film appearances of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien; as well as early appearances, in small parts, by Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher and John Ratzenberger. Also, the music was the first full feature score composed by Randy Newman. The film was nominated for eight Oscars.

Plot[link]

In early 20th Century New York, Father, Mother and Younger Brother reside in a house in New Rochelle. Younger Brother becomes smitten with coquettish showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, whose wealthy husband Harry Kendall Thaw murders architect Stanford White in a jealous rage.

An abandoned baby is found by Mother in her garden. She takes it into her home, and eventually the baby's mother Sarah to work for the family as well. A ragtime musician, Coalhouse Walker Jr., has become prosperous with his expertise at the piano. He is the baby's father and drives in his new Model T to the New Rochelle home, presenting himself to Father with a desire to marry Sarah.

Outside their firehouse, a group of bigots headed by fire chief Willie Conklin refuse to let Walker's automobile pass. After he leaves to find a policeman, Walker returns to find his car damaged and desecrated with manure. His objections result in the law placing him under arrest rather than Conklin and the firemen.

Walker wishes to sue, but can find no lawyer willing to represent him. He decides to exact revenge by planting a bomb in the firehouse. He then does the same in the J.P. Morgan Library, assisted by a group of disguised followers that include Younger Brother. He demands that the Model T and the fire chief, Conklin, be delivered to him or the library will be destroyed.

Booker T. Washington fails to persuade Walker to surrender, as does Father in a visit to the library. Conklin is summoned by Police Commissioner Rheinlander Waldo, who cites the fire chief's reputation as "a piece of slime" yet cannot submit to Walker's terrorist demands. Walker ultimately agrees to give up if Waldo will first permit the other men to safely depart. They do, but when Walker surrenders, he is shot.

Featured cast (in alphabetical order)[link]

Awards[link]

1981 Academy Awards (Oscars)[link]

Ragtime was nominated for eight Academy Awards:^[1]

• Nominated – Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
• Nominated – Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Elizabeth McGovern
• Nominated – Best Achievement in Art Direction:
  Art Direction: John Graysmark, Patrizia Von Brandenstein, Tony Reading
  Set Decoration: George DeTitta, Sr., George DeTitta, Jr., Peter Howitt
• Nominated – Best Achievement in Cinematography: Miroslav Ondrícek
• Nominated – Best Achievement in Costume Design: Anna Hill Johnstone
• Nominated – Best Original Score: Randy Newman
• Nominated – Best Original Song: Randy Newman for the song "One More Hour"
• Nominated – Best Adapted Screenplay: Michael Weller

1981 BAFTA Film Awards[link]

• Nominated – Best Original Song: Randy Newman for the song "One More Hour"

1981 Golden Globe Awards[link]

• Nominated – Best Director - Motion Picture: Miloš Forman
• Nominated – Best Motion Picture - Drama
• Nominated – Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture: Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
• Nominated – Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture: Mary Steenburgen
• Nominated – Best Original Song: Randy Newman for the song "One More Hour"
• Nominated – New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture: Howard E. Rollins, Jr.
• Nominated – New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture: Elizabeth McGovern

1981 Grammy Awards[link]

• Nominated – Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Randy Newman

1981 Image Awards[link]

• Won – Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Moses Gunn
• Nominated – Outstanding Motion Picture: Howard E. Rollins, Jr.

1981 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards[link]

• Nominated – Best Music: Randy Newman

1981 Writers Guild of America Awards[link]

• Nominated – WGA Screen Award for Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium: Michael Weller

Other[link]

One instrumental from the soundtrack, "Clef Club Number 2", was later used as the theme tune for ESPN's Inside Baseball weekly magazine program hosted by George Grande.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ragtime at the Internet Movie Database
• Ragtime at AllRovi

Fran Drescher
Drescher at the Vienna Life Ball in 2009
Born	Francine Joy Drescher (1957-09-30) September 30, 1957 (age 54) Flushing, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, comedian, producer, screenwriter, director, author, activist, political lobbyist, singer-songwriter
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Peter Marc Jacobson (m. 1978–1999) «start: (1978)–end+1: (2000)»"Marriage: Peter Marc Jacobson to Fran Drescher" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Fran_Drescher)

Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher (born September 30, 1957) is an American film and television actress, comedian, producer, and activist. She is best known for her role as Fran Fine in the hit TV series, The Nanny.

Drescher made her screen debut with a small role in the 1977 blockbuster film Saturday Night Fever prior to appearing in films such as the biopic American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's horror film Summer of Fear (1978). In the 1980s, she gained recognition as a comedic actress in the films The Hollywood Knights (1980), Doctor Detroit (1983), This Is Spinal Tap (1984), and UHF (1989) while establishing a television career with guest appearances on several series. In 1993, she achieved wider fame as Fran Fine in her own sitcom vehicle The Nanny, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Comedy Television Series during the show's run. She received further recognition for her performances in Jack (1996) and The Beautician and the Beast (1997) and reinforced her reputation as a leading sitcom star with Living With Fran (2005–2006) and Happily Divorced (2011–present).

A uterine cancer survivor, Drescher is an outspoken healthcare advocate and LGBT rights activist, and is noted for her work as a Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues for the U.S. State Department. Divorced from writer and producer Peter Marc Jacobson, she currently lives in Malibu, California.

Early life[link]

Drescher was born in Flushing, Queens, New York,^[1] the daughter of Sylvia, a bridal consultant, and Morty Drescher, a naval systems analyst.^[2] Her Ashkenazi Jewish family is of South-East Central European origin. She has an older sister, Nadine.

Drescher was a first runner-up for "Miss New York Teenager" in 1973, as revealed in her first autobiography "Enter Whining" released December 29, 1995, and on her interview on William Shatner's Raw Nerve, which first aired on January 27, 2009. She attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, where she met her future husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, whom she married in 1978, at age 21. They divorced in 1999.^[3] Jacobson was Drescher's constant supporter in her show-business career, and he wrote, directed and produced her signature television series, The Nanny. Drescher graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1975; one of her classmates was comedian Ray Romano.^[4] Drescher's character Fran Fine on The Nanny and Romano's character Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond met at a 20th high school reunion.^[5]

Career[link]

Early careers[link]

Her first break was a small role as the dancer Connie in the blockbuster movie Saturday Night Fever (1977) in which she delivered the line "So, are you as good in bed as you are on the dance floor?" to John Travolta. A year later, she began to gain more attention in films such as American Hot Wax (1978), and Wes Craven's Summer of Fear (1978). She also took on a rare dramatic role in the Milos Forman 1981 film, Ragtime.

During the 1980s, Drescher found moderate success as a character actress with memorable roles in films such as The Hollywood Knights, Doctor Detroit, The Big Picture, UHF, Cadillac Man, and memorably in This is Spinal Tap as publicist Bobbi Fleckman. She also made an appearance in a second season episode of Who's the Boss in 1985 as an interior decorator.

[edit] The Nanny and later film roles

Drescher and Jacobson created their own television show, The Nanny in 1993. The show aired on CBS from 1993 and ended in 1999, and Drescher became an instant star. In this sitcom, she played a charming and bubbly woman named Fran Fine who casually became the nanny of Margaret ("Maggie"), Brighton ("B"), and Grace ("Gracie") Sheffield; with her wit and her charm, she endeared herself to their widower father: stuffy, composed, proper British gentleman, and Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (played by British actor Charles Shaughnessy).

Drescher appeared in Jack (1996), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, The Beautician and the Beast (1997) (for which she was also executive producer) and Picking Up the Pieces (2000) co-starring Woody Allen. She also was the voice of "Pearl" in Shark Bait (2006).

Return to television[link]

In recent years, Drescher has made a return to television both with leading and guest roles. In 2003, Drescher appeared in episodes of the short lived sitcom, Good Morning, Miami as Roberta Diaz. In 2005, she returned to TV with the sitcom Living with Fran, in which she played Fran Reeves, a middle-aged mother of two, living with Riley Martin (Ryan McPartlin), a man half her age and not much older than her son. Former Nanny costar Charles Shaughnessy appeared as her philandering ex-husband, Ted. Living with Fran was cancelled May 17, 2006, after two seasons.

In 2006, Drescher guest starred in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; the episode, "The War at Home", aired on US television on November 14, 2006.^[6] She also appeared in an episode of the series Entourage and in the same year, gave her voice to the role of a female golem in The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVII". In 2007, Drescher appeared in the US version of the Australian improvisational comedy series Thank God You're Here.

In 2008, Drescher announced that she was developing a new sitcom entitled The New Thirty, also starring Rosie O'Donnell. A series about two old high school friends coping with midlife crises, Drescher described the premature plot of the show as "kind of Sex and the City but we ain't getting any! It'll probably be more like The Odd Couple."^[7] The sitcom failed to materialize however.^[7] In 2010, Drescher returned to television with her own daytime talk show, The Fran Drescher Tawk Show. While the program debuted to strong ratings, it ended its three-week test run to moderate success, resulting in its shelving.^[8][9] The following year, the sitcom Happily Divorced, created by Drescher and her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, was picked up by TV Land for a ten-episode order. It premiered there June 15, 2011.^[10] The show was renewed in July 2011 for a second season of 12 episodes, which aired in spring 2012. On May 1, 2012, TV Land extended the second season and picked up 12 additional episodes, taking the second season total to 24. The back-order of season two will debut later in 2012.

Personal life[link]

After separating in 1996, Drescher and Jacobson divorced in 1999. They did not have any children. Drescher stated, "I would have been able to conceive but not hold on".^[11] Drescher and Jacobson remained friends, and she has worked to support LGBT rights issues after her ex-husband came out.^[12] Drescher has stated that the primary reason for the divorce was her need to change directions in life. After her divorce, Drescher dated a man 16 years her junior. She credits the relationship with helping her through cancer and used it as inspiration for her sitcom Living with Fran.^[13] Drescher and Jacobson remain friends and business partners. She has stated that "...we choose to be in each others’ lives in any capacity. Our love is unique, rare, and unconditional; unless he’s being annoying.”^[14]

1985 robbery and rape[link]

In January 1985, two armed robbers broke into Drescher and Jacobson's Los Angeles apartment. While one ransacked their home, the other raped Drescher and her friend at gunpoint. Jacobson was also physically attacked, tied up, and forced to witness the entire ordeal. It took Drescher many years to recover, and it took her even longer to admit this to the press. She was paraphrased as saying in an interview with Larry King that although it was a traumatic experience, she found ways to turn it into something positive. In her book Cancer Schmancer, the actress writes: "My whole life has been about changing negatives into positives." Her rapist, who was on parole at the time of the crime, was returned to prison and sentenced to two life sentences.^[11]

Cancer battle[link]

After two years of symptoms and misdiagnosis by eight doctors, Drescher was admitted to Los Angeles's Cedars Sinai Hospital on June 21, 2000, after doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer. She had to undergo an immediate radical hysterectomy to treat the disease. Drescher was given a clean bill of health and no post-operative treatment has been ordered.

She wrote about her experiences in her second book, Cancer Schmancer.^[11] Her purpose for this book was to raise consciousness for men and women "to become more aware of the early warning signs of cancer, and to empower themselves." Drescher says, "I was going to learn what I needed to learn, ask questions, become partners with my doctor instead of having some kind of parent/child relationship."

Drescher at a press conference for the Austrian charity 'Dancer Against Cancer', 2010.

Cancer Schmancer Movement[link]

On June 21, 2007, the seventh anniversary of her operation, Drescher announced the national launch of the Cancer Schmancer Movement, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all women's cancers be diagnosed while in Stage 1, the most curable stage. She celebrated her tenth year of wellness on June 21, 2010.

Fran says:

Her goal is to live in a time when women's mortality rates drop as their health care improves and early cancer detection increases. More information can be found on her website at cancerschmancer.org.

Her efforts as an outspoken healthcare advocate in Washington DC helped get unanimous passage for H.R. 1245 (also known as Johanna's Law) and she is acknowledged in the Congressional Record.

Politics[link]

Life Ball 2009; Bill Clinton, Fran Drescher and Elke Winkens

In September 2008, Drescher, a Democrat, was appointed as a U.S. diplomat by George W. Bush Administration's Assistant Secretary of State Goli Ameri. Her official title is Public Diplomacy Envoy for Women's Health Issues. In traveling throughout the world, she will support U.S. public diplomacy efforts, including working with health organizations and women's groups to raise awareness of women’s health issues, cancer awareness and detection, and patient empowerment and advocacy. Her first trip was in late September and included stops in Romania, Hungary,^[16] Kosovo and Poland.^{[citation needed]}

U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher and Goli Ameri

In 2008, Drescher supported Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. She attended a Super Democrat rally for Clinton. Drescher said that she had been considering a run for the United States Senate in 2008 to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, but ultimately decided against it.^[17][18]

Music[link]

On September 28, 2009, she released a single entitled "Eye For An Eye".

Awards[link]

Drescher has been the recipient of the John Wayne Institute’s Woman of Achievement Award, the Gilda Award, the City of Hope Woman of the Year Award, the Hebrew University Humanitarian Award, and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Spirit of Achievement Award.

Most recently she was honored with the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award, which was presented to her by Senator Hillary Clinton.

On April 10, 2010, she was guest of honor at the "Dancer against Cancer" charity ball held at the Imperial Palace, Vienna, Austria, where she received the first "My Aid Award" for her achievements in support of cancer prevention and rehabilitation.^[19]

In popular culture[link]

She is portrayed in the episode The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou from the US television cartoon series Family Guy as being the result of Peter Griffin having fed a mogwai after midnight; in a reference to the film Gremlins where mogwais turn into gremlins if fed at that time.

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Stage[link]

References[link]

1. ^ Firestone, David. "For Queens, a Place in the Sun; Hollywood Is Suddenly Zooming In, With a Vengeance", The New York Times, September 18, 1994. Accessed 2008-01-27. "Ms. Drescher, who actually comes from Kew Gardens Hills, may be the most deliberately colorful of the lot, but she is hardly alone in celebrating the showbiz ascendancy of her native land."
2. ^ Fran Drescher Biography (1957-)
3. ^ Meisler, Andy. "TELEVISION; Mary Poppins She's Not", The New York Times, December 18, 1994. Accessed 2007-11-20. "After she graduated from Hillcrest High School in Queens, where she met Jacobson, the two of them moved to Los Angeles and were married."
4. ^ http://poobala.com/everybodyandnanny.html
5. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0657352/
6. ^ TV.com - episode page
7. ^ ^{a b} Gordon, Julie (2008-05-22). "BUZZ: Rosie O'Donnell, Fran Drescher combine for TV's whiniest sitcom?". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/buzz-rosie-o-donnell-fran-drescher-combine-for-tv-s-whiniest-sitcom-1.880364. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
8. ^ Albiniak, Paige (2011-11-29). "Audiences Still Love The Nanny". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/460398-Audiences_Still_Love_The_Nanny_.php. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
9. ^ Albiniak, Paige (2011-12-21). "Syndies Flat as Holiday Season Revs Up". Broadcasting & Cable. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/461400-Syndies_Flat_as_Holiday_Season_Revs_Up.php. Retrieved 2011-03-31. 
10. ^ Sarah Anne Hughes (June 14, 2011). "Fran Drescher talks being ‘Happily Divorced’ from gay ex-husband". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/celebritology/post/fran-drescher-talks-being-happily-divorced-from-gay-ex-husband/2011/06/14/AGJ4lhUH_blog.html. 
11. ^ ^{a b c} "LARRY KING LIVE Interview with Fran Drescher". CNN. May 6, 2002. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/06/lkl.00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 
12. ^ Fran Drescher's Ex-Husband Peter Marc Jacobson Is Gay, Shows Support
13. ^ Dustin Fitzharris (July 9, 2011). Fran Drescher on Dating After Divorce. ABC News. Accessed 2011-11-05.
14. ^ Modern Family - Peter Marc Jacobson on Success, Sexuality, and Being in Love with Fran Drescher. GuySpy. July 1, 2011.
15. ^ Cancer Schmancer Movement Website
16. ^ "U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher Raises Awareness of Women’s Cancer During Visit to Budapest". http://hungary.usembassy.gov/event_10092008.html. Retrieved 2010-05-16. 
17. ^ "'Nanny' state? Drescher eyes Clinton's Senate seat". Yahoo News. December 9, 2008. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/09/ap/national/main4658877.shtml. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
18. ^ Alex Dobuzinskis (December 9, 2008). "Fran Drescher looks to graduate from “Nanny” to U.S. Senate". Reuters Blogs. http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/12/09/fran-drescher-looks-to-graduate-from-nanny-to-us-senate/. Retrieved 2009-01-07. 
19. ^ "So war der 'Dancer Against Cancer'-Ball". http://madonna.oe24.at/Society/So-war-der-Dancer-Against-Cancer-Ball/1284900. Retrieved 2010-04-13. 
20. ^ Fran Drescher Emmy Award Winner

External links[link]

• Fran Drescher's Twitter page
• Cancer Schmancer Movement website
• Fran Drescher at the Internet Movie Database
• Fran Drescher at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Fran Drescher at AllRovi
• Fran Drescher Speaks Out in Support of New Bill Seeking Stricter Cosmetics Rules - video by Democracy Now!
• Fran Drescher at Emmys.com

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (January 2008)

Brad Dourif
Brad Dourif at Ring*Con 2002 in Bonn, Germany
Born	Bradford Claude Dourif (1950-03-18) March 18, 1950 (age 62) Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Joni Dourif (divorced)

Bradford Claude "Brad" Dourif (pronounced /ˈdɔrɨf/; born March 18, 1950) is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Deputy Clinton Pell in Mississippi Burning, Younger Brother in Ragtime, the mentat Piter De Vries in David Lynch's Dune, Gríma Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings, the homicidal Betazoid Lon Suder in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager, serial killer Charles Dexter/Brother Edward in the TV series Babylon 5, and Doc Cochran in the HBO television series Deadwood. Dourif has also worked with renowned film director Werner Herzog on many occasions, appearing in Scream of Stone, The Wild Blue Yonder, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?

Early life[link]

Dourif was born in Huntington, West Virginia, the son of Joan Felton (née Bradford), an actress, and Jean Henri Dourif, an art collector who owned and operated a dye factory.^[1][2] His paternal grandparents immigrated from France, and his paternal grandfather co-founded the Standard Ultramarine and Color Company in Huntington.^[3] After Dourif's father died in 1953, his mother remarried champion golfer William C. Campbell, who helped raise Dourif and his five siblings (four sisters and one brother). From 1963 to 1965, Dourif attended the private Aiken Preparatory School in Aiken, South Carolina. There he pursued his interests in art and acting. Although he briefly considered becoming an artist, he was eventually inspired to become an actor by his mother's participation as an actress in a community theater. After Aiken Prep, he attended another private school, Fountain Valley School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, graduating in 1969. He attended Marshall University for a time, before quitting college and moving to New York City to study acting, on the advice of actress Conchata Ferrell.^[4]

Early career[link]

Starting in school productions, he progressed to community theater, joining up with the Huntington Community Players, while attending Marshall. In New York, he worked with the Circle Repertory Company. During the early 1970s, Dourif appeared in a number of plays, off-Broadway and at Woodstock, New York, including The Ghost Sonata, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, in which he was spotted by director Miloš Forman^[4] who cast him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975).

Although this film is frequently cited as his film debut, in fact, Dourif made his first appearance in a low budget film called "Split," which was never released.^[5] His first studio film was W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975) but his bit part was cut. Nevertheless, his portrayal of the vulnerable Billy Bibbit in Cuckoo's Nest was his big break, earning him a Golden Globe (Best Actor Debut) and a British Academy Award (Supporting Actor); he was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[4] Skeptical of his instant stardom, Dourif returned to New York, where he continued in theater and taught acting and directing classes at Columbia University until 1988, when he moved to Hollywood.

In 1981, Vincent Canby listed Dourif as one of twelve actors to watch, calling Dourif "one of the most intense, most interesting young film actors of his generation".^[6]

Film and television[link]

Despite his attempts to avoid typecasting, Dourif frequently plays eccentric or disturbed characters, starting in Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), John Huston's Wise Blood (1979), Forman's Ragtime (1981) and Marc Didden's Istanbul. Dourif then teamed up with director David Lynch for Dune (1984) and Blue Velvet (1986). He also appears in the 1984 music video for Toto's single "Stranger in Town".

Dourif has appeared in a number of horror films, notably as the voice of the evil killer doll Chucky in 1988's Child's Play (Dourif also appeared onscreen as Chucky's human progenitor, serial killer Charles Lee Ray). Dourif voiced Chucky in the four Child's Play sequels, and is going to reprise the role in an upcoming reboot of the series. Dourif played the Gemini Killer in The Exorcist III (1990), but he has broken from the horror genre with roles in Fatal Beauty (1987), Mississippi Burning (1988), Hidden Agenda (1990), and London Kills Me (1991). He also played Gríma Wormtongue in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

On television, Dourif appeared in The X-Files episode "Beyond the Sea" as the psychic serial killer Luther Lee Boggs. He also played Lon Suder, a murderous psychopath who eventually redeems himself, in a three-episode story arc on Star Trek: Voyager, and has guest-appeared in shows such as Babylon 5. In 1984, he played a suspected serial killer in the episode "Number Eight" of the British TV series Tales of the Unexpected.

He played a role as a bad guy by the name of Wyatt in the Miami Vice episode titled "Theresa" which aired February 13, 1987 (Season 3 - Episode 16).

He is a fan of video games and appeared as Saavedro in Myst III: Exile (2001), the third game in the popular Myst franchise, and as the sadistic preacher Reed in GUN (2005).

Dourif was cast as The Scarecrow in Batman Forever, while Tim Burton was attached to the project. However, Joel Schumacher eventually took over the project, and instead cast Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as The Riddler.

Other roles Dourif has played are Doc Cochran in the HBO series Deadwood, receiving a 2004 Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series". He also appeared in the film Sinner, and played Sheriff Brackett in 2007 in Rob Zombie's version of Halloween and its sequel in 2009, Halloween II.

Dourif guest starred in the third-season finale of Fringe.^[7]

Filmography[link]

Films and television[link]

Video games[link]

• Myst III: Exile (2001) - as Saavedro
• Run Like Hell (2002) - as Fred (voice only)
• GUN (2005) - as Reverend Josiah Reed (voice only)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brad Dourif

• Brad Dourif at the Internet Movie Database
• Brad Dourif at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Brad Dourif at the TCM Movie Database
• Brad Dourif at AllRovi
• Brad Dourif at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Rhinelander Waldo
Waldo circa 1915
7th New York City Fire Commissioner
In office January 13, 1910 – May 23, 1911
Appointed by	William Jay Gaynor
8th New York City Police Commissioner
In office May 23, 1911 – December 31, 1913
Appointed by	William Jay Gaynor

Rhinelander Waldo (May 24, 1877 – August 13, 1927) was appointed the 7th New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor William Jay Gaynor on January 13, 1910. He resigned on May 23, 1911, less than two months after the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire to accept an appointment as the 8th New York City Police Commissioner. On December 31, 1913, he was dismissed by the outgoing Acting Mayor, Ardolph Kline. Among other achievements in office, Waldo contributed to the motorization of both departments.

Biography[link]

Rhinelander Waldo was born on May 24, 1877 in New York City to Francis Wilson Waldo, a stockbroker who died in 1878, and Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo.^[1] He joined the Seventeenth Infantry Regiment of the United States Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1899, after the United States had occupied the Philippine Islands in the Spanish-American War. In the course of nearly four years in the Philippines, he served under General Arthur MacArthur, Jr., was on the staff of General Leonard Wood during the Moro rebellion, and commanded a battalion of Philippine Scouts. He resigned from the Army in 1905 with the rank of Captain, and became New York's First Deputy Commissioner of Police in January 1906, at the age of 28.^[2] He married Virginia Otis Heckscher on April 20, 1910 in New York City.

Waldo, who had served as New York City Fire Commissioner since the beginning of Mayor Gaynor's term in January 1910, was in office at the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which occurred on March 25, 1911 and killed 146 people.^[3]

On June 9, 1911, only 17 days after taking office as Police Commissioner, Waldo founded the Motor-cycle squad, organized under the Office of Street Traffic Regulation Bureau.^[4] Another of his early acts as Police Commissioner was the appointment of three "Strong Arm" anti-vice squads and their commanders — one of whom, Charles Becker, was later executed for complicity in the July 1912 murder of the bookmaker Herman Rosenthal (shortly after Rosenthal had told the press of extortion by Becker and other police).

Acting Mayor Ardolph Kline's elected successor, John Purroy Mitchel, indicated before taking office at noon on January 1, 1914, that he would not keep Commissioner Waldo in office. Waldo tendered his resignation effective at midnight December 31, 1913, after transferring or accepting resignations from most of the department's senior officers and specialists. Amid much confusion and discord, Mayor Kline (who had taken office after Mayor Gaynor's death in September 1913) refused to accept Waldo's resignation (which would have left the Department without leaders for the first 12 hours after New Year's Eve) and fired him instead.^[5]

He died on August 13, 1927 in Garrison, New York of septicemia.^[6]

Fictional portrayals of Waldo[link]

Waldo was portrayed by James Cagney in the 1981 film, Ragtime, despite the age difference (Cagney was 81 years old when he filmed this movie; the real Rhinelander Waldo was only 32 at the time in which the movie was set and died at age 50.) However, in E.L. Doctorow's original novel Ragtime (published in 1975), Waldo's role is minor while Charles S. Whitman, the real-life Manhattan District Attorney at the time, performs most of the fictional words and deeds that the film based on Doctorow's book would later assign to Waldo.

See also[link]

• Philippine–American War (then known in the U.S. as the "Philippine Insurrection")
• Moro Rebellion
• New York Police Department
• Fire Department of New York
• Ragtime - A 1981 motion picture (based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow) featuring a fictionalized Rhinelander Waldo portrayed by film legend, James Cagney, in his last role in a feature film.

References[link]

Other sources[link]

• GAYNOR PUTS WALDO IN CROPSEY'S PLACE; Tells Him to Banish Favoritism from Police as He Did from Fire Department - New York Times article: May 24, 1911, page 1 retrieved on June 21, 2008. This article reprints (among several other documents) a letter from outgoing Fire Commissioner Waldo to Acting Fire Chief John Kenlon, in which he claims, "During my administration I inaugurated the use of motor apparatus. I believe this will become more general and greatly increase the efficiency of operation." However Donald J. Cameron's article on "firefighting" in The Encyclopedia of New York City (edited by Kenneth T. Jackson, Yale 1995, ISBN 0-500-05536-6) says that the Department started installing motor engines in 1907 and completed the process by 1922.
• MAYOR STAYS AWAY FROM WALDO DINNER; Much Comment Among 600 Guests at Testimonial to Commissioner. NO EXPLANATION GIVEN Mr. Kline Was Chairman of Committee That Arranged Function and Was to be Toastmaster. The New York Times, Tuesday, December 30, 1913, page 2, retrieved on June 20, 2008 - This story reports Commissioner Waldo's farewell remarks, including a review of his own record.

External links[link]

• Photographic portrait of Rhinelander Waldo from about 1908 retrieved on June 20, 2008
• Original (TIFF or QuickTime) of the same image from the Library of Congress.

Furry Lewis (March 6, 1893 - September 14, 1981)^[1] was an American country blues guitarist and songwriter from Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis was one of the first of the old-time blues musicians of the 1920s to be brought out of retirement, and given a new lease of recording life, by the folk blues revival of the 1960s.

Life and career[link]

Walter E. Lewis was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, United States, but his family moved to Memphis when he was aged seven.^[1] Lewis acquired the nickname "Furry" from childhood playmates.^[2] By 1908, he was playing solo for parties, in taverns, and on the street. He was also invited to play several dates with W. C. Handy's Orchestra.^[2]

His travels exposed him to a wide variety of performers including Bessie Smith, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Alger "Texas" Alexander. Like his contemporary Frank Stokes, he tired of the road and took a permanent job in 1922. His position as a street sweeper for the City of Memphis, a job he would hold until his retirement in 1966, allowed him to remain active in the Memphis music scene.^[2]

In 1927, Lewis cut his first records in Chicago for the Vocalion label. A year later he recorded for the Victor label at the Memphis Auditorium in a session with the Memphis Jug Band, Jim Jackson, Frank Stokes, and others. He again recorded for Vocalion in Memphis in 1929.^[2] The tracks were mostly blues but included two-part versions of "Casey Jones" and "John Henry". He sometimes fingerpicked, sometimes played with a slide.^[3] He recorded many successful records in the late 1920s including "Kassie Jones", "Billy Lyons & Stack-O-Lee" and "Judge Harsh Blues" (later called "Good Morning Judge").

In 1969, Lewis was recorded by the record producer, Terry Manning, at home in Lewis' Beale Street apartment. These recordings were released in Europe at the time by Barclay Records, and then again in the early 1990s by Lucky Seven Records in the United States, and again in 2006 by Universal. Joni Mitchell's song, "Furry Sings the Blues", (on her Hejira album) is about Lewis and the Memphis music she experienced in the early 1970s. Lewis despised the Mitchell song and demanded she pay him royalties.^[4]

In 1972 he was the featured performer in the Memphis Blues Caravan, which included Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Clarence Nelson, Hammy Nixon, Memphis Piano Red, Sam Chatmon, and Mose Vinson.^{[citation needed]}

Before he died, Lewis opened twice for The Rolling Stones, played on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, and had a part in a Burt Reynolds movie, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), and had a profile in Playboy magazine.^[1][3]

Lewis began to lose his eyesight because of cataracts in his final years. He contracted pneumonia in 1981, which led to his death from heart failure in Memphis on September 14 of that year, at the age of 88.^[5] He is buried in the Hollywood Cemetery in South Memphis, where his grave bears two headstones, the second purchased by fans.^[4]

See also[link]

• List of blues musicians
• List of Blues revival musicians
• List of Country blues musicians
• Piedmont blues
• List of Sire Records artists
• Anthology of American Folk Music

References[link]

External links[link]

• Illustrated Furry Lewis discography
• Cascadeblues.org biography
• Fansite reminisences
• Lewis's grave in Memphis at findagrave.com
• Mini-biography @ cr.nps.gov
• Musicanguide.com biography
• Furry Lewis on Myspace