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Foxe's Book of Martyrs A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of a subject's personality. Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Biographical works in diverse media—from literature to film—form the genre known as biography. An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and, at times, participation of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is about a life of a subject, written by that subject or sometimes with a collaborator. More about biographies… Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was a British dramatist, librettist and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. Gilbert's most popular collaborations with Sullivan, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado (one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre) and most of their other Savoy operas continue to be performed regularly today throughout the English-speaking world and beyond by opera companies, repertory companies, schools and community theatre groups. Lines from these works have permanently entered the English language, including "short, sharp shock", "What never? Well, hardly ever!", and "let the punishment fit the crime". (Read more...)Template:/box-footer edit   Selected portrait Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English film, television, and stage actor. His most notable film roles include psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis in the Halloween series, the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape. Template:/box-header {{Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography/to do}} Template:/box-footer Biography • People By association • By behavior • By ethnicity • By gender • By language • By nationality By occupation: Academics • Scientists Actors • Artists • Choreographers • Comedians • Dancers • Directors • Musicians • Photographers • Playwrights • Writers Astronauts • Aviators • Explorers • Mountain climbers Businesspeople • Computer designers • Innovators Heads of state • Humanitarians • Journalists • Lawyers • Politicians • Warriors Sportspeople • Association football players • Baseball players • Basketball players • Olympians By place • By political orientation • By religion By status: Award winners • Billionaires • Celebrities By time • Lists of people ▼ Biography ► Biographers Template:/box-footer Births 1813 - Richard Wagner, (pictured) German composer (d. 1883) 1859 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British physician and writer (d. 1930) 1907 - Sir Laurence Olivier, English actor and director (d. 1989) 1927 - George Andrew Olah, Hungarian-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate 1942 - Theodore Kaczynski, American terrorist (The Unabomber) 1946 - George Best, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2005) 1982 - Apolo Anton Ohno, American short track speed skater Deaths 337 - Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor (b. 272) 1457 - Saint Rita of Cascia, Italian saint (b. 1381) 1667 - Pope Alexander VII (b. 1599) 1760 - Israel ben Eliezer, Polish-born mystical rabbi (b. 1700) 1885 - Victor Hugo, French author (b. 1802) 1967 - Langston Hughes, American writer (b. 1902) 1972 - Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet and writer (b. 1904) Recent days: May 21 – May 20 – May 19 Template:/box-footer edit   Did you know Jean Thurel (1699–1807), portrait by Antoine Vestier in 1788 ... that Jean Thurel (pictured) was a soldier in the French Régiment de Touraine for more than 90 years? ... that military historian Lars Borgersrud's research includes taboo subjects like the fate of war children and Norwegian military officers with Nazi sympathies prior to and during World War II? ... that the farming of celery was first introduced to the United States by George Taylor in 1856? ... that Louisiana Sheriff Henderson Jordan sought to keep the death car of Bonnie and Clyde to compensate the officers who in 1934 risked their lives to capture the fugitives? ... that Thado Dhamma Yaza II, Viceroy of Prome in the 1500s, fought in nearly every military campaign of his brother King Bayinnaung, and helped to expand and defend the Toungoo Empire? ... that Donald S. Nesti clashed with the Tamburitzans as president of Duquesne University? ... that Geoffrey Prime worked for eleven years at GCHQ, and was only discovered to be a Soviet spy after his arrest in 1982 for the indecent assault of young girls? "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." — Harry S. Truman Apocryphal List of WikiProjects and work groups that involve biography articles: Arts and entertainment Actors and Filmmakers Composers Canadian Dictionary of Biography Initiative Living persons Philosophers Saints Romance authors Military Peers and Baronets Politics and government U.S. Members of Congress U.S. presidents Royalty and nobility Science and academia Aerospace Sports and games Baseball players List of all WikiProjects See also: Biographies of living persons • Manual of Style (biographies) Anthropology Community Criminal justice Culture Death Gangs Human rights LGBT Mind and brain Music Philosophy Religion Sexuality Social and political philosophy Thinking The following Wikimedia sister projects provide more on this subject: Wikipedia's Portals All Portals Overview Glossaries Indices Lists Outlines Categories Reference Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Nature People Philosophy Religion Society Technology Featured portals About portals