The man who created Maus has some worries: “The media are struggling with how to convey the stakes in this post-truth era, he explains, the courts are packed with Trump appointees, democratic norms have been destroyed, and there is no effective opposition.” - The Guardian (UK)
Perry was “a depth-defying scuba diver and underwater stuntwoman whose reverence for the oceanic world was deepened by tripping out on LSD in a research study that included Cary Grant, Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper.” - The New York Times
Heilmann, emblematic of women artists of her generation, “was in her 60s when she belatedly achieved wide acclaim for her ebulliently colored, loose-limbed, often lopsided abstract paintings.” - The New York Times
“Hensley made a clear distinction between a fiddle and a violin, even though they are essentially the same instrument. ‘If you can read music, you play the violin,’ she told The Tulsa World in 1982. ‘I can’t read music, so I just play the fiddle.’” - The New York Times
Admired for both beauty of voice and acting skill, she was also notably brave, handling boa constrictors as Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, appearing briefly topless at Covent Garden in Tippett’s The Knot Garden, and simulating oral sex as the Duchess of Argyll in Adès’s Powder Her Face. - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
“That I’ve been able to have this career, doing what I want, for sixty years. Hollywood’s been fair to me. I was always understood, I always had an audience. … I have more jobs than I’ve ever had in my life, so I’m not looking for a new one.” - The Hollywood Reporter
The renowned actor has played piano his whole life, and formally written music for at least 30 years, but it might still surprise many to learn that later this month Hopkins will release his debut album, "Life Is a Dream," on Decca Classics. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
She began her career as a singer, then became a promoter and impresario. She co-founded what started as a 1974 Duke Ellington tribute and, in 1979, became the Chicago Jazz Festival. She then created another event, which started in 1981 as the South Shore Jazz Fest and became JazzFest Heritage Weekend. - Chicago Sun-Times
After having memory issues while rehearsing a production at Chichester Festival Theatre earlier this year, the revered star is stepping away from full-scale work. She will continue giving performances of a two-person show which she’s been doing for many years and will do a short Beckett play next year. - The Times (UK)
“The actress Laura Linney, who graduated from Juilliard in 1990, was confused when Ms. Smith stared at the floor during her entire audition. ‘She wasn’t looking, she was listening,’ to Ms. Linney’s voice, the actress said.” - The New York Times
Lane, who didn’t speak Spanish when this part of her career began, "exuded a sultry Latin air as the star vocalist for the bandleader Xavier Cugat in the 1950s and ’60s, and in a successful solo career afterward.” - The New York Times
The comic monologue, titled Cartwheel, is billed as about a woman “approaching forty, juggling motherhood and finally getting around to being furious about the whole wrongful-imprisonment thing. Especially when half the world is telling her to get over it, while the other half still thinks she’s guilty.” - AP
A two-time Oscar nominee who’s widely expected to get another nomination for her performance as Circe, Morton said, “I’ve got really good agents and a manager, but at the end of the day, I’m 49. I do believe I’m a good actor, (but) there are other good actors out there.” - Variety
