Helen Adams Keller was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Born in West Tuscumbia, Alabama, she lost her sight and her hearing after a bout of illness when she was 19 months old. She then communicated primarily using home signs until the age of seven, when she met her first teacher and life-long companion Anne Sullivan. Sullivan taught Keller language, including reading and writing. After an education at both specialist and mainstream schools, Keller attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deafblind person in the United States to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Joan Crawford was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".
Anne Sullivan Macy was an American teacher best known for being the instructor and lifelong companion of Helen Keller.
Lieutenant Commander Nicholas John Turney Monsarrat FRSL RNVR was a British novelist known for his sea stories, particularly The Cruel Sea (1951) and Three Corvettes (1942–45), but perhaps known best internationally for his novels, The Tribe That Lost Its Head and its sequel, Richer Than All His Tribe.
Joan Evans was an American film actress known for Roseanna McCoy, Skirts Ahoy! and co-starred with Audie Murphy in the movie, Column South. She was married to Kirby Weatherly in August 1952.
Rossano Brazzi was an Italian actor. He moved to Hollywood in 1948 and was propelled to international fame with his role in the English-language film Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), followed by the leading male role in David Lean's Summertime (1955), opposite Katharine Hepburn. In 1958, he played the lead as Frenchman Emile De Becque in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. His other notable English-language films include The Barefoot Contessa (1954), The Story of Esther Costello (1957), opposite Joan Crawford, Count Your Blessings (1959), Light in the Piazza (1962), and The Italian Job (1969).
Sadie McKee is a 1934 American pre-Code, romantic-drama film directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford, and featuring Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone, Edward Arnold, and Esther Ralston. The film is based on the 1933 short story "Pretty Sadie McKee", by Viña Delmar. Crawford plays the title character, from young working girl through poverty, a marriage into enormous wealth and finally a (seemingly) settled life on her own terms.
Geraldine Brooks was an American actress whose three-decade career on stage as well as in films and on television was noted with nominations for an Emmy in 1962 and a Tony in 1970. She was married to author Budd Schulberg.
"The Frost King" is a short story about King Jack Frost written by Helen Keller, then 11. Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, had mentioned that the autumn leaves were "painted ruby, emerald, gold, crimson, and brown," and Keller, by her own account, imagined fairies doing the work. Keller wrote a story about how a cask of jewels, being transported by fairy servants, had melted in the sun and covered the leaves.
Heather Christine Sears was a British stage and screen actress.
Loser Takes All is a 1955 novella by British author Graham Greene. In his dedication Greene said he had not written "this little story" to encourage "adultery, the use of pyjama tops, or registry office weddings. Nor is it meant to discourage gambling".
Helen Keller in Her Story is a 1954 American biographical documentary about Helen Keller.
The Light in the Piazza is a 1960 novella by writer Elizabeth Spencer.
Dance, Fools, Dance is a 1931 pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer drama film starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Lester Vail in a story about a reporter investigating the murder of a colleague. Story and dialogue were created by Aurania Rouverol, and the film was directed by Harry Beaumont. Dance, Fools, Dance was the first of eight movies featuring Crawford and Gable.
The Sign of the Ram is a 1948 American film noir directed by John Sturges and screenplay by Charles Bennett, based on a novel written by Margaret Ferguson. The drama features Susan Peters, Alexander Knox and Phyllis Thaxter. It also featured Ron Randell. The film's title alludes to people born under the astrological sign Aries, who are supposedly strong-willed and desire to be admired, as explained in the dialogue.
Loser Takes All is a 1956 British comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, starring Glynis Johns, Rossano Brazzi, and Robert Morley, with a screenplay by Graham Greene based on his 1955 novella of the same name.
A Certain Smile is a 1958 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, based on the book of the same name by Françoise Sagan.
Follow the Boys is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Connie Francis, Paula Prentiss, and Janis Paige, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shot on location on the French and Italian Riviera, Follow the Boys was MGM's second film vehicle for top recording artist Francis following Where the Boys Are (1960). While Francis' role in the earlier film had been somewhat secondary, she had a distinctly central role in Follow the Boys playing Bonnie Pulaski, a newlywed traveling the Riviera.
Sally Smith is a British actress born in Godalming, Surrey. Although primarily a star of both dramatic and musical theatre she appeared in several films and dozens of television shows.
Ida Gomes, stage name of Ita Szafran was a Polish–born Brazilian actress.
