100 Notable alumni of
Sarah Lawrence College
Updated:
Sarah Lawrence College is 329th in the world, 138th in North America, and 131st in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Sarah Lawrence College sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Carrie Fisher
- Occupations
- spokespersonplaywrightvoice actornovelistscript doctor
- Biography
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Carrie Frances Fisher was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars films (1977–1983) and reprised the role in The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017)—a posthumous release that was dedicated to her—and The Rise of Skywalker (2019), the latter using unreleased footage from The Force Awakens. Her other film credits include Shampoo (1975), The Blues Brothers (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The 'Burbs (1989), When Harry Met Sally... (1989), Soapdish (1991), and The Women (2008). She was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performances in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2007) and the Channel 4 series Catastrophe (2017).
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Emma Roberts
- Occupations
- film actormodelfashion modeltelevision actorsinger
- Biography
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Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, singer, and producer. Known for her performances spanning multiple genres of film and television, her work in the horror and thriller genres have established her as a scream queen. Her accolades include a Young Artist Award, an MTV Movie & TV Award, and a ShoWest Award.
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Sigourney Weaver
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines in blockbusters and for her various roles in independent films. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
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Jordan Peele
- Occupations
- film directorfilm screenwritertelevision actorvoice actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Jordan Haworth Peele is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker known for his film and television work in the comedy and horror genres. He has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Peele started his career in comedy before transitioning to writing and directing psychological horror with comedic elements.
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Téa Leoni
- Occupations
- modeltelevision actorfilm produceractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Téa Leoni is an American actress. Early in her career, she starred on the television sitcoms Flying Blind (1992–1993) and The Naked Truth (1995–1998). Her breakthrough role was in the 1995 film Bad Boys, which led to leading parts in Deep Impact (1998), The Family Man (2000), Jurassic Park III (2001), Spanglish (2004), and Fun with Dick and Jane (2005). From 2014 to 2019, Leoni starred as Elizabeth McCord on the CBS drama series Madam Secretary.
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J. J. Abrams
- Occupations
- writerfilm score composerfilm producerscreenwriteractor
- Biography
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Jeffrey Jacob Abrams is an American filmmaker. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced films such as Regarding Henry (1991), Forever Young (1992), Armageddon (1998), Cloverfield (2008), Star Trek (2009), Super 8 (2011), and the Star Wars sequels The Force Awakens (2015) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Abrams's films have grossed over $4 billion worldwide, making him the tenth highest-grossing film director of all-time.
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Kyra Sedgwick
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorfilm actorvoice actorfilm director
- Biography
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Kyra Minturn Sedgwick is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the crime drama The Closer (2005–2012), for which she won a Golden Globe in 2007 and an Emmy Award in 2010. She also starred in the 1992 TV film Miss Rose White, which won an Emmy Award. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the 1995 film Something to Talk About. Sedgwick's other film credits include Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and Cameron Crowe's Singles (1992). She also had a recurring role as Chief Madeline Wuntch on the sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
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Cary Elwes
- Occupations
- film producerfilm actorstage actortelevision actoractor
- Biography
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Ivan Simon Cary Elwes is an English actor. He starred as Westley in The Princess Bride (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) and the Saw series. The accolades he has received include nominations for a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Satellite Awards. Elwes's other performances in films include Glory (1989); Days of Thunder (1990); Hot Shots! (1991); Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); Twister (1996); Kiss the Girls (1997); Liar Liar (1997); Ella Enchanted (2004); No Strings Attached (2011); BlackBerry and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (both 2023); and Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (2025).
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Lauren Holly
- Occupations
- actortelevision actormodelfilm actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Lauren Michael Holly is an American-Canadian actress. She has played the roles of Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart in the television series Picket Fences, NCIS Director Jenny Shepard in the series NCIS, and Dr. Betty Rogers on Motive. In film, she portrayed Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber (1994), Bruce Lee's wife Linda Lee in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993), Darian Smalls in Beautiful Girls (1996), and Gigi in What Women Want (2000).
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Julianna Margulies
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorfilm actorvoice actorstage actor
- Biography
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Julianna Margulies is an American actress. After several small television roles, Margulies received wide recognition for her starring role as Carol Hathaway in the NBC medical drama series ER (1994–2000; 2009), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award and six Screen Actors Guild Awards, in addition to four Golden Globe Award nominations. In 2009, she took on the lead role of Alicia Florrick in the CBS legal drama series The Good Wife (2009–2016). Her performance garnered critical acclaim, winning an additional two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and a Television Critics Association Award.
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Joanne Woodward
- Occupations
- stage actortheatrical produceractortelevision producervoice actor
- Biography
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Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American retired actress. She made her career breakthrough in the 1950s and earned esteem and respect playing complex women with a characteristic nuance and depth of character. Her accolades include an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She is the oldest living winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress.
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Brian De Palma
- Occupations
- film editoractorwriterdirectorfilm producer
- Biography
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Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for work in the suspense, crime, and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading member of the New Hollywood generation.
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Carly Simon
- Occupations
- singerguitaristcomposerpianistsongwriter
- Biography
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Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 top 40 U.S. hits include, "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (No. 10), "Anticipation" (No. 13), "The Right Thing to Do" (No. 17), "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (No. 14), "You Belong to Me" (No. 6), "Coming Around Again" (No. 18), and her four Gold-certified singles "You're So Vain" (No. 1), "Mockingbird" (No. 5, a duet with James Taylor), "Nobody Does It Better" (No. 2) from the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, and "Jesse" (No. 11). She has authored two memoirs and five children's books.
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Barbara Walters
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- broadcast journalistnews presentertelevision presenter
- Biography
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Barbara Jill Walters was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, including Today, the ABC Evening News, 20/20, and The View. Walters was a working journalist from 1951 until her retirement in 2014. Walters was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NATAS in 2000 and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007.
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Robin Givens
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm directorfilm actor
- Biography
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Robin Givens is an American actress and director. Givens played Darlene Merriman in the ABC sitcom Head of the Class in 1986, and remained on the series for its five year duration. Her troubled marriage to boxer Mike Tyson in 1988 drew considerable media attention, as did their acrimonious divorce. She later went on to become a spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for several years.
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Melora Hardin
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorfilm actorstage actorfilm director
- Biography
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Melora Diane Hardin Jackson is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's The Office (2005–2013), Trudy Monk on USA Network's Monk (2004–2009), and Tammy Cashman on Amazon Prime Video's Transparent (2014–2019), for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. She starred as magazine editor-in-chief Jacqueline Carlyle on the Freeform comedy-drama The Bold Type, which aired from 2017 to 2021.
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Pamela Adlon
- Occupations
- voice actoractortelevision actorfilm actorfilm producer
- Biography
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Pamela Adlon is an American actress, writer, and director. She is known for voicing Bobby Hill in the animated comedy series King of the Hill (1997–2010, 2025–present), for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award. She also voiced Baloo in Jungle Cubs (1996–1998), the title role in the Pajama Sam video game series (1996–2001), Lucky in 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997–1998), Margaret "Moose" Pearson in Pepper Ann (1997–2000), Ashley Spinelli in Recess (1997–2001), Otto Osworth in Time Squad (2001–2003), Vidia in the Tinker Bell franchise and Brigette Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law (2016–2019), among numerous others.
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Adam Goldberg
- Occupations
- film directordirectormusiciantelevision actorvoice actor
- Biography
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Adam Goldberg is an American actor. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as Dazed and Confused, Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind and Zodiac. He has also played leading roles in independent films such as The Hebrew Hammer and 2 Days in Paris. His TV appearances include the shows Law & Order: Criminal Intent, My Name Is Earl, Friends, Joey, Entourage, The Jim Gaffigan Show, The Unusuals and his role as hitman Grady Numbers in the first season of Fargo. From 2021 until 2025 he has starred opposite Queen Latifah on CBS' The Equalizer.
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Rahm Emanuel
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- In 1981 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- strategistmilitary personnelentrepreneurpolitician
- Biography
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Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician, diplomat, and former investment banker who served as United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives for three terms from 2003 to 2009. He was the White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 under President Barack Obama, and served as mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019.
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Vera Wang
- Occupations
- figure skaterdesignerbusinesspersonfashion designer
- Biography
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Vera Ellen Wang is an American fashion designer. Wang initially pursued a career in figure skating before transitioning to fashion. She got her start working for Walmart then worked for Vogue and Ralph Lauren before launching her own bridal gown boutique in 1990.
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Merritt Wever
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Merritt Carmen Wever is an American actress. Wever has had supporting roles in several television series, including the Showtime television series Nurse Jackie (2009–2015), Godless (2017), and Unbelievable (2019). She has played recurring roles on series such as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), New Girl (2013), The Walking Dead (2015–2016), and Severance (2025). She also played supporting roles in several films, including Michael Clayton (2007), Birdman (2014), Welcome to Marwen (2018) and Marriage Story (2019).
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Lee Radziwill
- Occupations
- television actorwritersocialiteactorfashion designer
- Biography
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Princess Caroline Lee Radziwill, previously known as Lee Canfield and Lee Ross, was an American socialite, public relations executive, and interior designer. She was the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and sister-in-law of President John F. Kennedy.
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Alice Walker
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- In 1965 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- educatorchildren's writershort story writercivil rights advocateclimate activist
- Biography
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Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awarded for her novel The Color Purple. Over the span of her career, Walker has published seventeen novels and short story collections, twelve non-fiction works, and collections of essays and poetry.
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Larisa Oleynik
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorstage actor
- Biography
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Larisa Romanovna Oleynik is an American actress. Oleynik began her career as a child actor, first appearing onstage as young Cosette in a national touring production of Les Misérables (1989–1991). She was subsequently cast as the titular character in the Nickelodeon series The Secret World of Alex Mack, which aired from 1994 to 1998. She also began a film career, starring in an ensemble cast as Dawn Schafer in the film adaptation The Baby-Sitters Club (1995), and in a lead role in the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).
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Deborah Feldman
- Occupations
- autobiographerbloggerwriter
- Biography
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Deborah Feldman is an American-German writer living in Berlin. Her 2012 autobiography, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, tells the story of her escape from a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, and was the basis of the 2020 Netflix miniseries Unorthodox.
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Maggie Wheeler
- Occupations
- voice actortelevision actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Maggie Wheeler is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the television sitcom Friends (1994–2004), and Anita on Ellen (1994–1996). In addition to her acting and voiceover work, she is a singer, songwriter, choir director, and workshop facilitator.
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Lesley Gore
- Occupations
- singer
- Biography
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Lesley Gore was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song "It's My Party", a U.S. number one in 1963. She followed it up with ten further U.S. Billboard top 40 hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me". Gore said she considered "You Don't Own Me" her signature song.
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Nev Schulman
- Occupations
- writerfilm produceractorphotographer
- Biography
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Yaniv "Nev" Schulman is an American TV host and producer. He is best known for the 2010 documentary film Catfish and the follow-up TV series Catfish: The TV Show on MTV of which he is the host and executive producer.
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Elisabeth Röhm
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorfilm director
- Biography
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Elisabeth Röhm is an American television and film actress and director. She is best known for playing Kate Lockley in the television series Angel from 1999 to 2001 and Serena Southerlyn in the television series Law & Order from 2001 to 2005.
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Jill Clayburgh
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm actorcharacter actor
- Biography
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Jill Clayburgh was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role in Paul Mazursky's comedy drama An Unmarried Woman (1978). She received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination for Starting Over (1979) as well as four Golden Globe nominations for her film performances, and two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her television work.
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Gabrielle Carteris
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- Graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- television actorvoice actorfilm actoractorlabor leader
- Biography
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Gabrielle Carteris is an American actress and trade union leader. She is best known for her role as Andrea Zuckerman in Beverly Hills, 90210.
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Leslie Grossman
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Leslie Erin Grossman is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lauren on The WB sitcom What I Like About You, and for her frequent collaborations with Ryan Murphy, appearing as Mary Cherry on The WB's comedy-drama series Popular (1999–2001), and as various characters on the FX anthology series American Horror Story since 2017. Grossman also had a recurring role on the television series 10 Things I Hate About You, a reboot of the original cult classic movie of the same name.
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Holly Robinson Peete
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorfilm actortelevision personalitychildren's writer
- Biography
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Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete is an American actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street, Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/The WB sitcom For Your Love. She also served as one of the original co-hosts of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk. She is also known for her portrayal of Diana Ross in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, which also aired on ABC.
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Sam Robards
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorfilm producerfilm actor
- Biography
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Sam Prideaux Robards is an American actor. He is best known for his film roles in American Beauty (1999) and A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). For his performance in the Broadway production of The Man Who Had All the Luck, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.
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Eric Mabius
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Eric Harry Timothy Mabius is an American actor. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, with a degree in cinema studies. After working in theater productions, Mabius made his film debut in the 1995 independent dark comedy Welcome to the Dollhouse.
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Louise Glück
- Occupations
- essayistpoetwriter
- Biography
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Louise Elisabeth Glück was an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". Her other awards include the Pulitzer Prize, National Humanities Medal, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and Bollingen Prize. From 2003 to 2004, she was Poet Laureate of the United States.
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Austin Chick
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Austin Chick is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer, who made the film XX/XY, released in 2002, and August, which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.
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Noah Hawley
- Occupations
- film directortelevision producerwritercomposershowrunner
- Biography
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Noah Hawley is an American filmmaker, author, and singer. He is best known for creating, chiefly writing and often directing the FX series Fargo (2014–2024), Legion (2017–2019) and Alien: Earth (2025). He also worked on the series Bones (2005–2008), The Unusuals (2009), and My Generation (2010).
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Jane Alexander
- Occupations
- writertelevision actorstage actorfilm actor
- Biography
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Jane Alexander is an American-Canadian actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997, Alexander served as the chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Tovah Feldshuh
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorwriterfilm actorstage actor
- Biography
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Terri Sue "Tovah" Feldshuh is an American actress, singer, and playwright. She has been a Broadway star for fifty years, earning four Tony Award nominations. She has also received two Emmy Award nominations for Holocaust and Law & Order, and appeared in such films as A Walk on the Moon, She's Funny That Way, and Kissing Jessica Stein. In 2015–2016, she played the role of Deanna Monroe on AMC's television adaptation of The Walking Dead.
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Win Butler
- Occupations
- banjoistcomposersinger-songwriterpoetguitarist
- Biography
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Edwin Farnham Butler III is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He co-founded the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire with Josh Deu and Régine Chassagne.
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Golden Brooks
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Golden Brooks is an American actress. She began her career with starring role in the Showtime comedy series, Linc's (1998–2000), and later appeared in the films Timecode (2000) and Impostor (2001).
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Jessica Harper
- Occupations
- singertelevision actorwriteractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Jessica Randolph Harper is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974), and subsequently featured in films including Love and Death (1975), Inserts (1975) and My Favorite Year (1982). She may be best known for her portrayal of Suzy Bannion, the protagonist of Dario Argento's cult classic Suspiria (1977), and appeared in a supporting role in Luca Guadagnino's 2018 remake.
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Katharine Houghton
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorwriterfilm actorstage actor
- Biography
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Katharine Houghton is an American actress and playwright. She portrayed Joanna "Joey" Drayton, a white woman who brings home her black fiancé to meet her parents, in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Katharine Hepburn, who played the mother of Houghton's character in the film, was Houghton's aunt. Houghton was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance. She is also known for her role as Kanna, the grandmother of Katara and Sokka in the film The Last Airbender (2010).
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Maggie Haberman
- Occupations
- journalistpolitical historian
- Biography
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Maggie Lindsy Haberman is an American journalist, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, and a political analyst for CNN. She previously worked as a political reporter for the New York Post, the New York Daily News, and Politico. She wrote about Donald Trump for those publications and rose to prominence covering his campaign, first presidency, and inter-presidency for the Times. In 2022, she published the best-selling book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.
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Ann Patchett
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Ann Patchett is an American writer, born December 2, 1963. In 2002 she received the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for Fiction for her novel Bel Canto. Patchett's other novels include The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft (1994), The Magician's Assistant (1997), Run (2007), State of Wonder (2011), Commonwealth (2016), The Dutch House (2019), and Tom Lake (2023). The Dutch House was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
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Alice Pearce
- Occupations
- television actorstage actorsingerfilm actor
- Biography
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Alice Pearce was an American actress. She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of On the Town (1949). Pearce played comedic supporting roles in several films before being cast as nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz in the television sitcom Bewitched in 1964. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series posthumously after the second season of the series. She died from ovarian cancer in 1966.
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JD Samson
- Occupations
- singerdisc jockeyguitarist
- Biography
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Jocelyn Rachel Samson, known professionally as JD Samson, is an American musician, producer, songwriter, and DJ, best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN.
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Guinevere Turner
- Occupations
- film actorfilm directortelevision actoractoracademic
- Biography
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Guinevere Jane Turner is an American actress, screenwriter, and film director. She wrote the films American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page and played the lead role of the dominatrix Tanya Cheex in Preaching to the Perverted. She was a story editor and played recurring character Gabby Deveaux on Showtime's The L Word.
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Amanda Burden
- Born in
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United States - Occupations
- urban plannerlandscape architectpolitician
- Biography
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Amanda Jay Mortimer Burden is an American urban planner who is a Principal at Bloomberg Associates, an international consulting service founded by Michael Bloomberg as a philanthropic venture to help city governments improve the quality of lives of their citizens. She was the Director of the New York City Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission under Mayor Bloomberg from 2002 to 2013.
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Christian Kracht
- Occupations
- writerscience fiction writerjournalistfilm screenwriter
- Biography
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Christian Kracht is a Swiss author, journalist, and screenwriter.
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Sawako Ariyoshi
- Occupations
- writerplaywrightnovelistimpresario
- Biography
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Sawako Ariyoshi was a Japanese writer, known for such works as The Doctor's Wife and The River Ki. She was known for her advocacy of social issues, such as the elderly in Japanese society, and environmental issues. Several of her novels describe the relationships between mothers and their daughters. She also had a fascination with traditional Japanese arts, such as kabuki and bunraku. She also described racial discrimination in the United States, something she experienced firsthand during her time at Sarah Lawrence, and the depopulation of remote Japanese islands during the 1970s economic boom.
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Peter Gould
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- screenwritertelevision directorfilm directorshowrunnertelevision producer
- Biography
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Peter Gould is an American television writer, director and producer. He worked on all five seasons of the AMC drama Breaking Bad, and was nominated for four Writers Guild of America Awards for his work on the series. After Breaking Bad ended, he went on to become the co-creator and co-showrunner, with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, of the show's spinoff, Better Call Saul. He became the series' sole showrunner after Gilligan left the writers room.
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Jennifer Salt
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorscreenwriterfilm actortelevision producer
- Biography
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Jennifer Salt is an American producer, screenwriter, and former actress known for playing Eunice Tate on Soap (1977–1981).
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Stacey Kent
- Occupations
- recording artistjazz musiciansingerradio personality
- Biography
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Stacey Kent is an American jazz singer from South Orange, New Jersey.
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Meredith Monk
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- In 1964 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- dancerrecording artistchoreographerperforming artistfilm director
- Biography
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Meredith Jane Monk is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording extensively for ECM Records. In 1991, Monk composed Atlas, an opera, commissioned and produced by the Houston Grand Opera and the American Music Theater Festival. Her music has been used in films by the Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, 1998) and Jean-Luc Godard (Nouvelle Vague, 1990 and Notre musique, 2004). Trip hop musician DJ Shadow sampled Monk's "Dolmen Music" on the song "Midnight in a Perfect World". In 2015, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Barack Obama.
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Hope Cooke
- Occupations
- historianautobiographerjournalistqueen consort
- Biography
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Hope Cooke was the Gyalmo (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་མོ་, Wylie: rgyal mo; Queen Consort) of the 12th and last Chogyal (King) of Sikkim, Palden Thondup Namgyal. Their wedding took place in March 1963. She was termed Her Highness The Crown Princess of Sikkim and became the Gyalmo of Sikkim at Palden Thondup Namgyal's coronation in 1965. She is the first American-born Queen Consort.
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Nancy Huston
- Occupations
- translatornovelistlinguistwriter
- Biography
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Nancy Louise Huston, OC is a Canadian novelist and essayist, a longtime resident of France, who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English.
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Marina Cicogna
- Occupations
- screenwriterfilm produceractorphotographer
- Biography
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Contessa Marina Cicogna Mozzoni Volpi di Misurata was an Italian film producer and photographer. She produced the film Belle de Jour, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1967.
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Max Bemis
- Occupations
- singersongwritercomics writerguitaristmusician
- Biography
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Maxim Adam Bemis is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and primary songwriter of the rock band Say Anything. He sang alongside Chris Conley in the supergroup Two Tongues (which featured band members from Say Anything and Saves the Day). He plays alongside his former wife Sherri DuPree under the name Perma, and is a comic book writer, chiefly for Marvel Comics, creating X-Men: The Worst X-Man Ever and Foolkiller: Psycho Therapy.
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Sophie Auster
- Occupations
- composersinger-songwritersingerfilm actor
- Biography
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Sophie Auster is an American singer/songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of authors Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt.
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William Finley
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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William Franklin Finley was an American actor who appeared in the films The Funhouse, Simon, Silent Rage, Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters and The Wedding Party.
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Alice Bradley Sheldon
- Occupations
- novelistscience fiction writerpsychologistspywriter
- Biography
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Alice Bradley Sheldon, better known as James Tiptree Jr., was an American science fiction and fantasy author. It was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree Jr. was a pen name of a woman, which she used from 1967 until her death. From 1974 to 1985, she also occasionally used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. Tiptree was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Jon Avnet
- Occupations
- producerscreenwriterdirectorwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Jonathan Michael Avnet is an American director, writer, and producer.
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Diana Ewing
- Occupations
- film actoractortelevision actor
- Biography
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Diana Ewing is an American former actress.
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Dani Shapiro
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Dani Shapiro is an American writer, the author of six novels including Family History (2003), Black & White (2007) and Signal Fires (2022) and the memoirs Slow Motion (1998), Devotion (2010), Hourglass (2017), and Inheritance (2019). She has also written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and Elle. In February 2019, she created a podcast on iHeartRadio called Family Secrets.
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Ira Kaplan
- Occupations
- guitaristcomposersinger-songwriter
- Biography
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Ira David Kaplan is a co-founder, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo. He is married to the band's co-founder Georgia Hubley.
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Jean Erdman
- Occupations
- academicchoreographerdancertheatrical director
- Biography
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Jean Erdman was an American dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director, and the wife of Joseph Campbell.
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Alice Brock
- Occupations
- restaurateur
- Biography
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Alice May Brock was an American artist, author and restauranteur. A resident of Massachusetts for her entire adult life, Brock owned and operated three restaurants in the Berkshires—The Back Room, Take-Out Alice, and Alice's at Avaloch—in succession between 1965 and 1979. The first of these was the subject of Arlo Guthrie's 1967 song "Alice's Restaurant", which in turn inspired the 1969 film.
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Sarah Kendzior
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- 1996-2000 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in history
- Occupations
- university teacherscholarwriterjournalistanthropologist
- Biography
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Sarah Kendzior is an American author, anthropologist, researcher, and scholar. Kendzior is the author of The View from Flyover Country – a collection of essays first published by Al Jazeera – and is a former co-host of the Gaslit Nation podcast. In 2020, she published her second book, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America, which was a New York Times bestseller. In September 2022, she published her third book, They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent, which was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In April 2025, she published her fourth book, The Last American Road Trip, which was a USA Today Bestseller.
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Kris Carr
- Years
- 1971-.. (age 55)
- Occupations
- actortelevision actorwriterfilm directorphotographer
- Biography
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Kris Carr is an American author, alternative cancer treatment advocate and entrepreneur who promotes the alkaline diet. She is the founder of the Inner Circle Wellness online community and is a member of Oprah's SuperSoul 100.
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Ross Gay
- Occupations
- poet
- Biography
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Ross Gay is an American poet, essayist, and professor of English at Indiana University who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his 2014 book Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry.
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Esmeralda Santiago
- Occupations
- writer
- Biography
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Esmeralda Santiago is a Puerto Rican author known for her narrative memoirs and trans-cultural writing. Her impact extends beyond cultivating narratives as she paves the way for more coming-of-age stories about being a Latina in the United States, alongside navigating cultural dissonance through acculturation.
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Cornelia Fort
- Occupations
- aircraft pilot
- Biography
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Cornelia Clark Fort was an American aviator who became famous for being part of two aviation-related events. The first occurred while conducting a civilian training flight at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when she was the first United States pilot to encounter the Japanese air fleet during the Attack on Pearl Harbor. She and her student narrowly escaped a mid-air collision with the Japanese aircraft and a strafing attack after making an emergency landing.
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Laura Curran
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- In 1989 graduated with Bachelor of Arts in liberal arts education
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Laura Curran is a Canadian-born American politician who served as the 9th county executive of Nassau County, New York from 2018 to 2021, the first woman to hold the office. Curran worked as a reporter before serving in the Nassau County Legislature.
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Zoë Keating
- Occupations
- DJ producercellistcomposer
- Biography
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Zoë Clare Keating is a Canadian-American cellist and composer once based in San Francisco, California, now based in Vermont.
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Alec Soth
- Occupations
- photographer
- Biography
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Alec Soth is an American photographer, based in Minneapolis. Soth makes "large-scale American projects" featuring the midwestern United States. New York Times art critic Hilarie M. Sheets wrote that he has made a "photographic career out of finding chemistry with strangers" and photographs "loners and dreamers". His work tends to focus on the "off-beat, hauntingly banal images of modern America" according to The Guardian art critic Hannah Booth. He is a member of Magnum Photos.
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Joan Juliet Buck
- Occupations
- voice actorjournalistactorfilm actor
- Biography
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Joan Juliet Buck is an American writer and actress. She was the editor-in-chief of French Vogue from 1994 to 2001, the only American ever to have edited a French magazine. She was contributing editor to Vogue and Vanity Fair for many years, and writes for Harper's Bazaar. The author of two novels, she published a memoir, The Price of Illusion, in 2017. In 2020, she was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her short story, “Corona Diary.”
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Jeet Thayil
- Occupations
- poetwriter
- Biography
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Jeet Thayil is an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician. He is the author of several poetry collections, including These Errors Are Correct (2008), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award. His first novel, Narcopolis, (2012), won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and was shortlisted for the 2012 Man Booker Prize and The Hindu Literary Prize.
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Darnell Martin
- Occupations
- actorscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Darnell Martin is an American television and film director, screenwriter, and film producer.
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David M. Rosenthal
- Occupations
- film producerscreenwriterfilm director
- Biography
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David Mitchell Rosenthal is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. He has directed the films A Single Shot, How It Ends, Janie Jones, and The Perfect Guy, among others.
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Hillary B. Smith
- Occupations
- television actorstage actoractorfilm actor
- Biography
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Hillary Bailey Smith is an American actress, best known for her daytime soap opera roles as Margo Hughes on As the World Turns and Nora Gannon Buchanan on One Life to Live.
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Lili Bordán
- Occupations
- television actorfilm directoractorfilm actor
- Biography
-
Lili Bordán is a Hungarian-American film and television actress.
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Eva Golinger
- Occupations
- journalistlawyer
- Biography
-
Eva Golinger is an American lawyer, writer and journalist. She practices law in New York and specializes in immigration and international law. She is the author of several books about Hugo Chávez, of whom she was an outspoken supporter, and his relationship with the US. Chávez called her La novia de Venezuela ("The Bride of Venezuela"), and she served as a foreign policy advisor to his government. The National Catholic Reporter wrote that Golinger headed the "pro-Chávez" Venezuela Solidarity Committee in 2004. Her website, venezuelafoia.info, aimed to shed light on what she called links between US government agencies and Venezuelan organizations by publishing documents obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
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Sarah Gertrude Shapiro
- Occupations
- television writerfilm directortelevision directoractortelevision producer
- Biography
-
Sarah Gertrude Shapiro is an American filmmaker and television writer best known for co-creating the Lifetime television series UnREAL with Marti Noxon.
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Amanda Foreman
- Occupations
- television presenterbiographerwriter
- Biography
-
Amanda Lucy Foreman is a British-American biographer and historian. Her books include Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, A World on Fire, and The World Made by Women. She also wrote and starred in a four-part documentary regarding the role of women in society, entitled The Ascent of Woman. Foreman's column for The Wall Street Journal bi-weekly 'Historically Speaking' ran for over ten years. She is also a CBS News royal contributor.
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Nancy Cantor
- Years
- 1952-.. (age 74)
- Enrolled in Sarah Lawrence College
- In 1974 graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- university presidentsocial psychologist
- Biography
-
Nancy Ellen Cantor is an American academic administrator who has been serving as the 14th president of Hunter College in New York City since August 2024.
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Susan Meiselas
- Occupations
- photojournalistuniversity teacherjournalistartistphotographer
- Biography
-
Susan Meiselas is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for her 1970s photographs of war-torn Nicaragua and American carnival strippers.
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W. Ian Lipkin
- Occupations
- microbiologistepidemiologist
- Biography
-
Walter Ian Lipkin is an American epidemiologist, microbiologist, and pathologist who is the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and Director, Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. He also holds professorships in neurology and pathology at Columbia and directs the NIH-funded Center for Solutions for ME/CFS.
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Josh Mancell
- Occupations
- composer
- Biography
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Josh Mancell is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist who writes music for film, television, and video games. He is best known for his work on the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series of video games.
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Porochista Khakpour
- Occupations
- novelist
- Biography
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Porochista Khakpour is an Iranian-American novelist, essayist, and journalist.
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David Coffin
- Occupations
- singerfilm actor
- Biography
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David Coffin is an American traditional folk musician specializing in early music and maritime music, based in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. He is the song leader for the Revels music programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also presents music enrichment programs for schools throughout New England. One program is based on the history of the recorder, and the other is called Life at Sea: A Voyage in Song.
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Cris Villonco
- Occupations
- produceractordirectorsinger
- Biography
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Anna Cristina "Cris" Siguion Reyna Villonco-Valderrama is a Filipino performance artist whose credits include performances in theater, television, film, recordings, music videos, and advertisements. She is currently associated with Repertory Philippines.
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Paul Johnson Calderon
- Occupations
- socialite
- Biography
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Paul Reid Johnson Calderon is an American writer, television personality, and socialite known for starring alongside Tinsley Mortimer in The CW's 2010 television series High Society.
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Durga Chew-Bose
- Occupations
- film producerwriterfilm director
- Biography
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Durga Chew-Bose is a Canadian writer and film director. Her first book, Too Much and Not the Mood, was published in 2017. Her first film, Bonjour Tristesse, which she adapted from the Françoise Sagan novel by the same name, debuted at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
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Cathleen Schine
- Occupations
- novelistliterary criticwriter
- Biography
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Cathleen Schine is an American novelist.
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Kacen Callender
- Occupations
- writernovelist
- Biography
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Kacen Callender is a Saint Thomian author of children's fiction and fantasy, best known for their Stonewall Book Award and Lambda Literary Award—winning middle grade debut Hurricane Child (2018). Their fantasy novel, Queen of the Conquered, is the 2020 winner of the World Fantasy Award, and King and the Dragonflies won the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature.
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Clifford May
- Years
- 1951-.. (age 75)
- Occupations
- journalist
- Biography
-
Clifford D. May is an American journalist, editor, political activist, and podcast host. He is the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a think tank created shortly after the 9/11 attacks, where he hosts the podcast Foreign Podicy. He is the weekly "Foreign Desk" columnist for The Washington Times.
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Anne Roiphe
- Occupations
- writernovelistjournalistessayist
- Biography
-
Anne Roiphe is an American writer and journalist. She is best known as a first-generation feminist and author of the novel Up the Sandbox (1970), filmed as a starring vehicle for Barbra Streisand in 1972. In 1996, Salon called the book "a feminist classic."
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Sharon Hom
- Occupations
- legal scholarhuman rights defender
- Biography
-
Sharon Kang Hom is an adjunct professor of law at the New York University School of Law and Professor of Law Emerita at the City University of New York School of Law; from 2002-2023, she served as Executive Director of Human Rights in China. Hom taught law for 18 years, including training judges, lawyers, and law teachers at eight law schools in China. Her non-law book publications include Chinese Women Traversing Diaspora: Memoirs, Essays, and Poetry (ed.,1999). In 2007, she was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the "50 Women to Watch" for their impact on business. Born in Hong Kong, she lives in New York with her family.
