Antony Alda (December 12, 1956 – July 3, 2009) was an American actor who grew up in a famous acting family. The son of Robert Alda, he was born in France, his early studies were in Rome and he finished at The Juilliard School in New York City. An active actor, he appeared on stage, and in film and television including his role as Johnny Corelli in Days of our Lives. His career culminated in writing, directing, and performing in The Role of a Lifetime. He died at age 52.

Antony Joseph Alda, born Antonio D'Abruzzo on Dec. 9, 1956 in St. Julien, France, into what would later be called an acting dynasty. His father was well-known in the United States both in film and on Broadway, where he earned a Tony. Alda's mother, Flora Martino was an Italian actress. His half-brother, Alan Alda, graduated from Fordham University in the year of Alda’s birth. Antony’s sons, Ian and Alexander (Zan), as well as his nieces, Beatrice and Elizabeth have continued the family tradition.

Alda described growing up within the dynasty, "The theater has always been a comfortable place for me. I spent all my summers on Broadway. Dad would be in one play and Alan would be in another. I used to hang out with the lighting guys." He found that being an Alda had its professional ups and downs. "People figure you know what you're doing because you grew up around acting. Other people think you got the part because of your name."

Antony and the Johnsons are a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.

British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 1998. In 2001, Hegarty released a short follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of "Mysteries of Love", a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and "Soft Black Stars", a Current 93 cover.

Producer Hal Willner heard the EP and played it to Lou Reed, who immediately recruited him for his project The Raven. Now gaining more attention, Hegarty signed to US-based record label Secretly Canadian, and released another EP, The Lake, with Lou Reed guest-performing on one of the tracks. Secretly Canadian also re-released Hegarty's debut album in the United States to wider distribution in 2004.

Antony's second full-length album, 2005's I Am a Bird Now, was greeted with positive reviews and significantly more mainstream attention. The album featured guest appearances by Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright, Boy George and Devendra Banhart, and circled themes of duality and transformation. I Am a Bird Now featured arrangements by Maxim Moston and Julia Kent and was mixed by Doug Henderson. In September 2005 Antony and the Johnsons were awarded the Mercury Prize for the best UK album of 2005. Rival Mercury nominees, and favorites for the prize, the Kaiser Chiefs suggested that Antony got in on a technicality; despite the fact he was born in the United Kingdom he spent much of his time in the US — although they later apologized for the suggestion that he wasn't a deserving winner.

Alda Merini (Milan, March 21, 1931 – November 1, 2009) was a renowned Italian writer and poet.

Alda Merini started her poetic career when she was really young and soon she gained the attention and the admiration of many famous italian writers, like Giorgio Manganelli, Salvatore Quasimodo and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Her intense, passionate and mystic writing style was influenced especially by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke.

Her verses are mainly about her long and dramatic hospitalization in mental home (since 1964 to the late 1970s), and the "otherness" of madness in the creative expression. One of her masterpieces is L'altra verità. Diario di una diversa ("The other truth. Diary of a dropout"), Scheiwiller, 1986.

In 1996 Alda Merini was proposed by the "Académie Francaise" for the Nobel Prize in Literature. She received the prize of the Italian Republic in the area of poetry.

The day of her death, the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, called her an "inspired and limpid poetic voice."

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English association footballer who plays for Los Angeles Galaxy. He has played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, and the England national team for which he holds the appearance record for an outfield player.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010. On 20 November 2011, he joined an elite group of players to have won three league titles in three different countries, when Los Angeles won their third MLS Cup.

Dorothy Collins (November 18, 1926 – July 21, 1994) was a Canadian/American singer, actress, and recording artist. She was born Marjorie Chandler in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and adopted her stage name in her mid-teens.

As a youngster, Collins sang on radio stations in Windsor and Detroit. In 1940, at age 14, she and her family were introduced to bandleader/composer Raymond Scott in Chicago. Shortly thereafter, she became Scott's protégée. In early 1942, at age 15, she became a featured vocalist with Scott's orchestra, performing on radio and on tour. Scott groomed her for stardom, which included coaching her vocals (pitch, phrasing, and delivery) and mentoring her performance skills. In the late 1940s, she contributed vocals to the revived Raymond Scott Quintet, a sextet that released records on the bandleader's own Master label and served as house band on the radio program Herb Shriner Time. In 1949, after Scott was hired to conduct the orchestra on the popular CBS Radio program, Lucky Strike's Your Hit Parade, Collins was trained by Scott to lead his sextet on tour in his absence.