Eugène Schueller (20 March 1881 Paris – 23 August 1957) was the founder of L'Oréal, the world's leading company in cosmetics and beauty.

Career with L'Oréal[link]

As a young French chemist and 1904 graduate of the Institut de Chimie Appliquée de Paris (now Chimie ParisTech), Eugene Schueller developed in 1907 an innovative hair-color formula. He called his dye Oréale. With that, the history of L'Oréal began. He formulated and manufactured his own products, and sold them to Parisian hairdressers.

In 1909, he registered his company, the "Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux", the future L'Oréal. The guiding principles of the company that would become L'Oréal were put into place from the start: research and innovation in the interest of beauty.

Controversy[link]

During the early twentieth century, Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oréal headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning and anti-communist group whose leader formed a political party Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in Occupied France supported the Vichy collaboration with the Nazis. ^[1] L'Oréal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as Jacques Corrèze, who served as CEO of the U.S. operation. This involvement was extensively researched by Michael Bar-Zohar in his book, Bitter Scent.

Family[link]

Schueller's daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, is the widow of André Bettencourt with whom she had one daughter, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, a member of L'Oréal's board of directors. Françoise Meyers is married to Jean-Pierre Meyers, whose parents died in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Liliane Bettencourt is currently the second wealthiest woman in the world, with holdings estimated at $23.5 billion^[2].

Legacy[link]

The head office of L'Oréal in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine is named Centre Eugène Schueller.^[3]

References[link]

• Michael Bar-Zohar, Bitter Scent: The Case of L'Oréal, Nazis, and the Arab Boycott (London, Dutton Books: 1996) p. 264.

External links[link]

	France portal
	Biography portal
	Fashion portal

• Official website of L'Oréal
• Forbes article on L'Oréal
• Forbes article on Liliane Bettencourt
• Book Review of Bitter Scent

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Alexander Klaws
Alexander Klaws live
Background information
Birth name	Alexander Klaws
Born	(1983-09-03) September 3, 1983 (age 28)
Origin	Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Singer, Actor
Years active	2002–present
Labels	SonyBMG
Website	alexanderklaws.de

Alexander Klaws (born September 3, 1983 in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German pop singer, who came to fame as the winner of the first season of the television show Deutschland sucht den Superstar, the German version of Pop Idol.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Alexander had a typical childhood growing up in Sendenhorst, Germany with his parents Richard and Hildegard and older sister Melanie (born 1980). He was an avid soccer player, and still plays soccer on charity teams whenever he finds the time. Alexander's musical gifts became apparent when he was still in elementary school. He made his first television appearance at the age of 10, performing Haddaway's "What Is Love" on a national TV show for children. By the time he was 13, Alexander was already taking vocal and piano lessons to strengthen his voice.

Career[link]

In 2002 Klaws participated in the first season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar. Although he was seen as one of the more inconspicuous finalists at the very beginning of the show, he was able to boost his popularity constantly with standout performances of Robbie Williams' "Angels" or Michael Sembello's "Maniac". In the end he beat out runner-up Juliette Schoppmann. He earned 70.1 percent of the vote. This record would stand until 2007 when Mark Medlock gained 78.02 percent of the vote in the finale of the 4th season. Alexander is also one of the two DSDS winners to have never been in the bottom three. In 2003 he participated in the show World Idol.^[1]

DSDS Performances[link]

Alexander's first single "Take Me Tonight" (written and produced by judge Dieter Bohlen) was released in March 2003 via BMG. The song debuted at number 1 on the German, and Swiss singles charts and sold more than 1 million copies domestically, becoming the third most successful single of the year. In May he followed-up with his debut album Take Your Chance, which saw similar success and spawned a second single "Stay with Me". At the end of a year he entered the top of the charts again with "Free Like the Wind", the soundtrack to the German TV movie Held der Gladiatoren.

In 2004 Klaws returned with his second album Here I Am. Like its predecessor, the album debuted at number 1 on the German charts, but it ultimately failed to live up to the overwhelming success of his debut album. In spite of this, the album managed to snag Klaws another three top-20 hits with "Behind the Sun", "Sunshine After the Rain" and "Here I Am". He went on to record and release a duet with German singer Sabrina Weckerlin, "All (I Ever Want)", the theme song to the musical The Three Musketeers.

After a brief absence from the limelight Alexander returned in early 2006 with the single "Not Like You" and his third album Attention!. Both the album and the single barely made it to the top 20 on the German charts. As a result of Attention!'s relatively weak showing, SonyBMG opted not to release another single from the album.

From January 2007 until late March 2008, Alexander Klaws played Alfred in the musical Tanz der Vampire in Theatre des Westens, Berlin. He remained with the musical until Tanz der Vampire was replaced by the musical Elisabeth. His fourth album was released in early April 2008. It is the first album that Klaws has done that is completely in his native language of German. In March 2010 it was announced that Alexander will be playing the title character in the Hamburg production of the musical Tarzan after successfully auditioning for the show's composer, Phil Collins.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Studio albums[link]

Singles[link]

Promo Singles[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Alexander Klaws in the German National Library catalogue (German)
• MySpace

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John Cheng You-Nam
200px
Chinese name	鍾耀南
Chinese name	鍾耀南 (Traditional)
Chinese name	钟耀南 (Simplified)
Pinyin	zhōng yào nán (Mandarin)
Jyutping	chung1 yu4 nam2 (Cantonese)
Origin	Singapore
Born	Singapore
Other name(s)	阿南, Ah Nam, Zhong Yaonan
Occupation	Actor, getai singer and compére
Genre(s)	Getai
Instrument(s)	Singing
Years active	1998 - present

John Cheng You Nam is a Singaporean actor and Getai compére who made his debut in Money No Enough and is most notable for his role in Liang Po Po: The Movie.

Career[link]

Cheng debuted in acting in the 1998 film Money No Enough, and the following year was cast in Liang Po Po. He was arrested on charges of abusing ectasy in 2006, and was jailed for a year.

Cheng courted controversy when he shouted at journalists during Jack Neo's press conference on the latter's marital affairs.

Filmography[link]

• Money No Enough (1997)
• Liang Po Po (1998)
• Hitman in the City
• The Mirror (1999)
• That One No Enough (1999)
• Return of the Condor Heroes (2001)
• I Not Stupid (2002)
• Homerun (2003)
• The Best Bet (2004)
• Folks Jump Over The Wall (2007)
• Love Blossom (2008)
• The Chen Shucheng Show (2008)
• Money No Enough II (2008)
• Missing You (2008)
• Where Got Ghost? (2009)
• The Ghosts Must Be Crazy (2011)

Self-created songs[link]

• 爸爸德士

External links[link]

• John Cheng at the Internet Movie Database