The Skywalker family is a fictional legendary human family in the Star Wars franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force and sometimes lightsaber skills. Luke Skywalker, his twin sister Princess Leia Organa, and their father Darth Vader are central characters in the original Star Wars film trilogy. Darth Vader, in his previous identity as Anakin Skywalker, is a lead character in the prequel film trilogy and so is his wife and the twins' mother Padmé Amidala; while his mother Shmi is a minor character in the first and second films respectively. Leia and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, renamed himself Kylo Ren and is the main antagonist in the sequel film trilogy, while they and Luke serve as supporting characters. Shmi, Padmé, and Han are the only members who are not Force-sensitive. The Skywalker bloodline, alongside the Palpatine bloodline, are the two bloodlines that are the strongest with the Force.
The Thorn Birds is a 1977 novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough. Set primarily on Drogheda—a fictional sheep station in the Australian Outback named after Drogheda, Ireland—the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans 1915 to 1969. The novel is the best-selling book in Australian history, and has sold over 33 million copies worldwide.
Colleen Margaretta McCullough was an Australian author known for her novels, her most well-known being The Thorn Birds and The Ladies of Missalonghi.
Rachel Claire Ward is an English-Australian actress, film director, screenwriter and television director.
Sydney Margaret Penny is an American actress. She began her career as a child performer appearing in made-for-television movies. She made her big screen debut in the Western film Pale Rider directed by Clint Eastwood. She received total six Young Artist Awards nominations, winning two for playing Young Meggie Cleary in the miniseries The Thorn Birds (1984), and for Pale Rider. Penny also starred in the sitcom The New Gidget (1986–1988), and played Bernadette Soubirous in the French drama film Bernadette (1988) and its sequel The Passion of Bernadette (1990) both directed by Jean Delannoy.
Kunta Kinte is a fictional character in the 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family by American author Alex Haley. Kunta Kinte was based on one of Haley's ancestors, a Gambian man who was born around 1750, enslaved, and taken to America where he died around 1822. Haley said that his account of Kunta's life in Roots is a mixture of fact and fiction.
Lorelai Victoria Gilmore is a fictional character in The WB dramedy television series Gilmore Girls. Created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and portrayed by actress Lauren Graham, she appeared in every episode of the show from 2000 to 2007.
Empire Falls is a 2005 American television miniseries directed by Fred Schepisi and written by Richard Russo, based on Russo's 2001 novel of the same name. It aired on HBO in two parts, from May 28 to May 29, 2005. The miniseries was nominated for and won multiple awards, including ten Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
Rose and Thorn are each the personalities of two different characters within publication of DC Comics, and in which Thorn is a villainous persona. Rose Canton originated during the Golden Age of comics, and Rhosyn "Rose" Forrest during the Silver Age. Until the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Canton and Forrest were from Earth-Two and Earth-One respectively, of the DC Multiverse.
A.D. (1985) is an American/Italian miniseries in six parts which adapts the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles. Considered as the third and final installment in a TV miniseries trilogy which began with Moses the Lawgiver (1974) and Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth (1977), it was adapted from Anthony Burgess's 1985 novel The Kingdom of the Wicked, which was itself a sequel to Burgess's book Man of Nazareth, on which was based Zeffirelli's movie. The title is the abbreviation for Anno Domini, as the events occur in the first years of the Christian Era.
The Amen Corner is a three-act play by James Baldwin. It was Baldwin's first work for the stage following the success of his novel Go Tell It on the Mountain. The drama was first published in 1954, and inspired a short-lived 1983 Broadway musical adaptation with the slightly truncated title, Amen Corner. Anton Philips' production of The Amen Corner at The Tricycle Theatre in 1987 was the first black-produced and directed play to transfer to the West End of London. Phillips directed a revival of the play, again at The Tricycle, in 1999. The play was revived at the National Theatre in London in the summer of 2013.
The Inkheartseries is a succession of four fantasy novels written by German author Cornelia Funke, comprising Inkheart (2003), Inkspell (2005), Inkdeath (2007), and The Colour of Revenge (2023). The books chronicle the adventures of teen Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that she and her father, a bookbinder named Mo, have the unusual ability to bring characters from books into the real world when reading aloud. Mostly set in Northern Italy and the parallel world of the fictional Inkheart book, the central story arc concerns the magic of books, their characters and creatures, and the art of reading.
Kosara or Cossara was a Bulgarian noblewoman, related to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who was married to Prince Jovan Vladimir of Duklja.
The Thorn Birds is an American television miniseries broadcast on ABC from March 27 to 30, 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Piper Laurie, Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham and Philip Anglim. It was directed by Daryl Duke and based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough. The series was enormously successful and became the United States' second highest-rated miniseries of all time behind Roots; both series were produced by television veteran David L. Wolper.
Last Rites is a 1988 thriller film starring Tom Berenger, Daphne Zuniga, and Chick Vennera. The film was written and directed by television producer and writer Donald P. Bellisario, best known for his work on the television series Magnum, P.I. and Quantum Leap. It was Bellisario's first and only theatrical film directing effort.
The Unholy is a 1988 American horror film directed by Camilo Vila and starring Ben Cross, Ned Beatty, Hal Holbrook, and Trevor Howard in his final role. The film follows a Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans who finds himself battling a demonic force after being appointed to a new parish.
Keeper is a 2010 novel written by Kathi Appelt. This story is about a young girl who searches for her mermaid mother, Meggie Marie.
If There Be Thorns is a 2015 television film based on the best-selling 1981 novel of the same name. It premiered on April 5, 2015 and was produced by Lifetime. Seeds of Yesterday is the sequel film based on the novel of the same name.
Ms. Scrooge is a 1997 American made-for-television Christmas fantasy drama film starring Cicely Tyson and Katherine Helmond and is an adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. The film changes the roles of Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley into female counterparts. The film is also notable for mentioning that Tiny Tim is dying of a "slow-growing congenital tumor", instead of an unnamed condition. The film's setting is changed from London to Providence, Rhode Island. It originally aired on USA Network on December 10, 1997.
