Iftekhar

Iftekhar Ahmed Sharif, credited as Iftekhar or Iftikhar, was an Indian actor who mainly worked in Hindi cinema. 

Iftekhar was born February 22, 1920 in Jalandhar and was the eldest among four brothers and a sister. After completing his matriculation, Iftekhar did a diploma course in painting from Lucknow College Of Arts. Iftekhar had a passion for singing and was impressed with the famous singer Kundanlal Sehgal. In his 20s, Iftekhar travelled to Calcutta for an audition conducted by the music composer Kamal Dasgupta, who was then serving for His Master's Voice. Dasgupta was so impressed by Iftekhar's personality that he recommended his name to M. P. Productions as an actor.

Iftekhar made his debut in the 1944 film Taqraar, which was made under the banner of Art Films-Kolkata.

Many of Iftekhar's close relatives, including his parents and siblings, migrated to Pakistan during the partition. He would have preferred to stay in Calcutta, but rioting forced him to leave Calcutta. Along with his wife and daughters, he moved to Bombay, where they struggled to make ends meet. Iftekhar had been introduced to actor Ashok Kumar during his time in Calcutta and contacted him in Bombay, gaining a role in the Bombay Talkies movie Muqaddar (1950). Iftekhar acted in over 400 films in a career that spanned from the 1940s through to the early 1990s.

His brother, Imtiaz Ahmed, was a famous TV character actor of PTV (Pakistan Television), especially Afshan and Tanhaiyan. Like many of the older character actors who populated the Bollywood universe of the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar had been a lead actor in his youth during the "golden age" of Bollywood, in the 1940s and 1950s. His roles ranged from father, uncle, great-uncle, grandfather, police officer, police commissioner, courtroom judge and doctor. He also did negative roles in Bandini, Sawan Bhadon, Call Girl, Khel Khel Mein and Agent Vinod.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar graduated to playing uncle, father, and what came to be his speciality: police inspector roles, doctor or senior advocate. Generally he played "sympathetic" characters but, on occasion, he played the heavy. One of his most memorable roles as a heavy was as Amitabh Bachchan's corrupt industrialist mentor in Yash Chopra's classic Deewaar (1975). Another of Iftekhar's classic roles was as the police inspector in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer. It was a small part, but the scene where Iftekhar reprimands the near-hysteric Amitabh Bachchan for taking the law into his own hands is incredibly powerful. Another important role as a police officer was played by him in the 1978 hit film Don. Some of his major roles came in Rajesh Khanna films such as Joroo Ka Ghulam, Mehboob Ki Mehndi, The Train, Khamoshi, Safar, Raja Rani, Ittefaq, Rajput and Awam.

Besides Deewaar and Zanjeer, Iftekar had character roles in many of the classics of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s Bollywood cinema: Bimal Roy's Bandini, Raj Kapoor's Sangam, Manoj Kumar's Shaheed, Teesri Manzil, Teesri Kasam, Johny Mera Naam, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Don, The Gambler (1971 film), Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978) and Sholay, to name but a few.

Apart from Hindi films, he appeared in two episodes of the American TV series Maya in 1967 as well the English language films Bombay Talkie (1970) and City of Joy (1992).

Iftekhar married Hannah Joseph, from Calcutta, who changed her religion and name to Hina Ahmed. They had two daughters; Salma and Sayeda.

Iftekhar died on March 4, 1995 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Sanjeev Kumar

Sanjeev Kumar was an Indian actor. 

He won several major awards, including two National Film Awards for Best Actor for his performances in the movies Dastak (1970) and Koshish (1972). Unlike his peers, Kumar did not mind playing roles that were non-glamorous, such as characters well beyond his age. Movies such as iconic character Thakur in Sholay (1975) Arjun Pandit (1976) and Trishul (1978), along with the remakes of Tamil films into Hindi such as Khilona (1970), Naya Din Nai Raat (1974), Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977), Devata (1978) and Ram Tere Kitne Naam (1985) exemplify his versatility. He also did suspense-thriller films such as Shikar (1968), Uljhan (1975) and Trishna (1978) and Qatl (1986), Kumar also proved himself to do comedy in films such as Manchali (1973), Pati Patni Aur Woh (1978), Biwi-O-Biwi (1981) Angoor (1982) and Hero (1983).

Sanjeev Kumar was born as Harihar Jethalal Jariwala on July 9, 1938 in Surat into a Gujarati family. He came to Bombay when he was very young. A stint in a film school led him to Bollywood, where he eventually became an accomplished actor. He is widely acclaimed by the critics and general public alike to be one of the all-time greatest actors of Indian cinema.

Kumar started his acting career as a stage actor, starting with IPTA in Bombay and later joining the Indian National Theatre. Even as a stage actor, he had a penchant for playing older roles; at age 22, he played an old man in an adaptation of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. In the following year, in the play Damru directed by A.K. Hangal, he again played the role of a 60-year-old with six children.

He made his film debut with a small role in Hum Hindustani in 1960. His first film as a protagonist was in Nishan (1965). In 1968, he acted alongside Dilip Kumar in Sunghursh. He also starred opposite Shammi Kapoor and Sadhana in the hit film Sachaai (1969).

He starred in the 1966 Gujarati film Kalapi, which was based on the poet Kalapi's life, with him playing the title role, Padmarani playing the role of his wife, Rama and Aruna Irani as the love interest. The film was directed by Manhar Raskapur. Later Aruna Irani worked with him in another Gujarati film, Mare Javun Pele Par (1968).

In 1970, the movie Khilona, which was the remake of Gujarati film Mare Javun Pele Paar (1968), brought Kumar national recognition. In 1972, he played in an Indo-Iranian film, Subah-O-Shaam. This was when the director Gulzar first spotted him. Later he cast Kumar in the roles of older men in 4 films Parichay (1972), Koshish (1973), Aandhi (1975) and Mausam (1975). Gulzar cast Kumar in the roles of younger men in the films Angoor (1981) and Namkeen (1982). He won the BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) for his portrayal of a deaf and mute person in Koshish opposite Jaya Bhaduri. He reached to his success when he starred in the box office hits Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Manchali (1973) and Aap Ki Kasam (1974). In 1973, he made a guest appearance during a song in a Tamil movie, Bharatha Vilas (1973). He performed in nine movies directed by Gulzar. Hrishikesh Mukherjee directed him in Arjun Pandit, for which he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award.

He did three films opposite famous Tamil actress L. Vijayalakshmi, including Husn Aur Ishq and Badal which became hits. Their first film was Alibaba Aur 40 Chor which was unsuccessful. His Raja Aur Runk, released in 1968, was a great success. He did Kangan, Rivaaj, Zindagi, Be-Reham, Archana and Do Ladkiyan opposite Mala Sinha. He did Priya, Anubhav, Gustaaki Maaf, Bachpan and Khud-Daar with Tanuja. He was paired with Raakhee in Angaare, Paras, Trishna, Shriman Shrimati and Hamare Tumhare. His hits with Leena Chandavarkar included Apne Rang Hazar, Manchali and Anhonee. He was paired regularly with Sulakshana Pandit in films such as Uljhan and Waqt Ki Deewar and with Moushumi Chatterjee in Itni Si Baat and Daasi.

The producers and directors of the South wanted to remake their Tamil and Telugu films in Hindi with either Kumar or Rajesh Khanna in lead. It was these Hindi film remakes which elevated the success in his career. Khilona and its Tamil version Engirundho Vandhaal were made simultaneously. Navarathri was remade as Naya Din Nai Raat. Kumar reprised the role played by Thengai Srinivasan in Yehi Hai Zindagi which was a remake of Kaliyuga Kannan. He starred as the lead Shaandaar (1974) which was a remake of Kasturi Nivasa with Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar in the lead. Kumar enacted the role played by AVM Rajan in Anadhai Aanandhan, in its Hindi version Chanda Aur Bijli. Gnana Oli was remade as Devata in 1978 with Kumar reprising the role originally played by Sivaji Ganesan. He also acted in Swarg Narak (1978) the remake of Swargam Narakam. He played the role which N.T. Rama Rao did originally in Devina Chesina Manushulu, in its Hindi version Takkar in 1980. Tayaramma Bangarayya was remade as Shriman Shrimati in 1982, Raman Ethanai Ramanadi was remade as Raam Kitne Tere Naam in 1985. Kumar reprised the role played by R.Muthuraman in Alukuoru Aasai in its Hindi remake Itni Si Baat in 1981. Sivaji Ganesan gave Kumar a role in his own home production Gauri (1968), which was a remake of Shanti (1965). The role played by S.S. Rajendran in Shanti was re-enacted by Kumar in Gauri.

Northern Indian producers and directors cast Kumar primarily in supporting roles in films like Khud-Daar, Sawaal, Zabardast, Hero, and Silsila. Sanjeev Kumar's excellent comic timing entertained audiences in films such as Seeta Aur Geeta, Biwi O Biwi (1981), Pati, Patni Aur Woh, Angoor (1982) and Hero (1983).

His performances in films such as Charitraheen, Grihapravesh, Chehre Pe Chehra, Suraag, Sawaal and Yaadgaar were appreciated by critics. Kumar always demonstrated a willingness to take on unconventional roles that challenged him as an actor. His role as Mirza Sajjad Ali,[12] a chess-obsessed Lucknowi (citizen of Lucknow), in Satyajit Ray's classic Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977) exemplified that aspect. His best-remembered roles were in the blockbuster films Sholay (1975) and Trishul (1978). His portrayal of the character Thakur, from Sholay was regarded as one of his stellar performances. In Naya Din Nayi Raat (1974), Kumar reprised nine-roles. This film enhanced his status and reputation as a serious actor in Bollywood. He stood his ground against leading superstars such as Rajesh Khanna in Aap Ki Kasam; Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor in the Yash Chopra multi-star cast film Trishul (1978) and Dilip Kumar in Sangharsh and Vidhaata (1982).

He did many regional films in different languages including Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Sindhi and his mother tongue Gujarati. In 1980, he starred in the Punjabi movie Fauji Chacha. He also made guest appearances in two Tamil films, Bharata Vilas and Uyarndhavargal (a remake of Koshish).

Pandit chose to remain unmarried.

After his first heart attack, he underwent a bypass surgery in the U.S. However, on November  6, 1985, at the age of 47, he suffered a massive heart attack, which resulted in his death.

More than ten of Kumar's films were released after his death with the last one, Professor Ki Padosan, released in December 1993. At the time of his death, only 75% of the film was complete and it was eventually decided to alter the storyline in the second half to explain the absence of Kumar's character.

Walter Bryan Emery

Walter Bryan Emery was a British Egyptologist. 

His career was devoted to the excavation of archaeological sites along the Nile Valley. During the Second World War, he served with distinction as an officer in the British Army and, in the immediate aftermath, in the Diplomatic Service, both still in Egypt.

Walter Bryan Emery was born on July 2, 1903 in New Brighton, Cheshire, the son of Walter Thomas Emery – the head of a technical college – and Beatrice Mary Emery. Emery was educated at St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool.

On leaving school, he was briefly apprenticed to a firm of marine engineers. His training there resulted in his becoming an excellent draftsman, a skill which produced the brilliantly executed line drawings that permeated his later published works on Egyptology, and which was similarly influential in his wartime military career.

After preliminary training at the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology, Emery made his first trip to Egypt as an assistant on the staff of the Egypt Exploration Society, in 1923. There he participated in the excavation of Amarna, the ancient city in Middle Egypt founded by the pharaoh Akhenaton.

By 1924, he was already field director of Sir Robert Mond's excavations at Thebes for the University of Liverpool. He made several clearings, restorations and protective operations into a score of tombs at Sheikh Abd el-Qurna. Between 1924 and 1928, continuing as Director of the Mond Expedition, he worked on excavations at Nubia, Luxor and Thebes.

In 1929 he was appointed field director of the Archaeological Survey of Nubia under the auspices of the Egyptian Government Service of Antiquities, with authority to explore and excavate all ancient sites in Nubia which were soon to be flooded after the erection of the Aswan Low Dam. Working at Quban, Ballana and Qustul, he excavated the X-Group of tombs dating to the 3rd to 6th century A.D. He was assisted in his work by his wife, Molly. The completion of the excavations of the fortress at Buhen ended his work in Nubia.

He then became director of fieldwork at Luxor and Armant. During the years 1935 to 1939 he was the director of the Archaeological Survey of Nubia. During these years as director, Emery also investigated several early dynastic tombs at Saqqara. While at Saqqara he made the significant discovery of a "zoo" of mummified animal remains.

Emery was commissioned as an Army officer immediately on the outbreak of war, on 12 September 1939. There was no Intelligence Corps at the time, so Emery was commissioned into the General List as a 2nd Lt. (108571). His considerable local knowledge and practical experience was invaluable to those preparing the defence of Egypt against a potential attack from Italian forces to the West and to the South and he was quickly directed to the intelligence desk at General Headquarters (GHQ), British Troops in Egypt, in Cairo. An early preoccupation was to ensure the quantity and quality of mapping to be issued to the mobilised units that were pouring into the kingdom from all quarters of the Empire: the going for vehicles needed to be noted, water-sources, newly installed enemy defences, etc. Emery's training as a draughtsman was a great asset; his work-colleagues at this time included the future general Victor Paley.

By 1942, Emery was a War Substantive (WS) captain, but was serving in the rank of Major. His contribution to the success at Alamein was rewarded with a Mention in Despatches (MiD). At the end of the North African campaign, with the successful landing of Allied troops on mainland Italy, Emery was further recognised with the award of a military MBE, in 1943. In addition, Emery was later promoted to temporary Lt.Col., on taking command of his branch.

After six years, Lt.Col. Emery, MBE, was released from service on 27 November 1945, and his wartime rank was given formal confirmation. Though not unique, his record was nevertheless impressive for an officer with no previous military experience (PME) who was commissioned after the start of the war: to be promoted from Second Lieutenant to Lieutenant-Colonel, and to be awarded an honour in addition, indicated an exceptional contribution that was notable in itself.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, with many archaeological sites still off-limits, Emery accepted a diplomatic post with the British embassy in Cairo. Starting as an Attaché in 1947, he rose to the rank of First Secretary, until his resignation in 1951 to accept an academic role in London.

In 1951, Emery was appointed Edwards Professor of Egyptian Archaeology and Philology at University College London, a seat he held for nearly two decades, to 1970.[5] He was elected to the British Academy Fellowship in 1959, and in 1969 he was awarded a civil CBE for his contribution to Egyptology, superseding his military MBE.

During the vacations, Emery was able to resume a limited degree of field-work. From the late 1950s, he worked for seven seasons in the Sudan, at Buhen and Qasr Ibrim. Then, in 1964, he returned once more to Saqqara, where he discovered the "enclosure of the sacred animals".

His principal publications are: Great tombs of the 1st dynasty, (3 volumes) 1949–58; Archaic Egypt, 1961; and Egypt in Nubia, 1965.

Walter Emery returned to his beloved Egypt but did not enjoy a long retirement: he was sent to hospital on March 7, 1971 after having a stroke. Following a second stroke on 9 March, he died in the Anglo-American Hospital in Cairo, on March 11, 1971. He was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Cairo.

Gonzalo Suárez

 

Gonzalo Suárez Morilla is a Spanish writer, screenwriter and film director.

In 1963 he published his first novel De cuerpo presente. His 1975 film The Regent's Wife was entered into the 9th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1991 film Don Juan in Hell was entered into the 17th Moscow International Film Festival.

In 1984 he acted as the married writer in Pedro Almodóvar's ¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto? (What Have I Done to Deserve This?).

In 1987 he directed Los pazos de Ulloa for TVE.

At Gijón International Film Festival in 2003, he received the Nacho Martinez Award.

Personal life

He has a younger brother cinematographer Carlos Suárez, two daughters and son, Gonzalo Suárez Girard, who is a video game director, most well known for his work on Commandos.

Bernard Pearson

Bernard Stanley Pearson is a British potter and sculptor who in 1981 set up a pottery called Clare Craft in the Suffolk town of Clare. Here, he and his team produced a range of fantasy and comical figurines. This led to a meeting with Terry Pratchett in 1990, and Clare Craft went on to design a range of figurines based on characters from Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

In 1997, at Pratchett’s suggestion, Pearson began crafting ‘The Unreal Estate’, a series of highly detailed architectural models based on Discworld locations, most notably the Unseen University. During this time, he and his wife Isobel also created a wide range of studio pottery based on landscape and fantasy imagery under the back stamp of ‘Bernard Pearson Ceramics’.

In 2000 he moved to the town of Wincanton in Somerset, England, where he established a Discworld centre and retail outlet called ‘The Cunning Artificer’, the name bestowed upon him by his friend Terry Pratchett. Here, he and Isobel launched more Discworld merchandise, including the ‘Discworld Stamps’. This latter collaboration with Terry Pratchett resulted in the creation of many thousands of ‘Cinderella’ stamps that are held in collections from the British Library to private collectors the world over. He also co-authored The Complete Discworld Almanack with Terry Pratchett in 2004. ‘The Cunning Artificer’ became ‘The Discworld Emporium’ in 2011 when Ian Mitchell and Reb Voyce joined the partnership and set up a successful online business shipping books and Discworld artifacts worldwide. Following the death of Terry Pratchett in 2015, Pearson took a back seat in the design and running of the Emporium.

In 2018 Pearson published his first novel Dovetail and has since continued to focus on writing. He has embarked upon several podcasts and is known for his wit and skills as a raconteur.

Are you a Famous Pipe Smoker?

Are you or someone you know a famous or infamous pipe smoker?  Local Celebrities, educators, authors, professionals, etc. 

If so you belong here.   Contact me and I will gladly add you to the list of famous pipe smokers.  This is a not for profit Blog, it is just a way to let people see how many greats before us smoked pipes. 

My Favorite Pipe Makers

These are a list of my personal favorite pipe makers.

1. Bjarne Nielsen -Bjarne Nielsen was the owner and the founder of Bjarne pipes. After a MBA degree from the University of Copenhagen and a career in the Danish Foreign Service the company was founded in 1973 and it is probably Denmark's largest pipe manufacturer of 100% hand made pipes. Each pipe is formed on a lathe and as a consequence, there are no model numbers. Each and every pipe is totally hand made and individual. Bjarne was a friend to all who enjoyed the true pleasures of a good pipe. He will be missed.
2. Larry Comeaux - Larry Comeaux of Memphis TN made pipes for over 30 years. His intricately carved pieces won him several honors. Larry was a true master craftsman If you could imagine it he could make it.
3. Savinelli - The Savinelli family and its many skilled artisans since 1876 are made using only the best grades of Sardinian and Corsican briar. Every pipe is made with great care and pride. Savinelli pipes are a must for any pipe smoker they come in an array of different styles from traditional to modern.
4. Eric Nording - Erik Nørding was originally educated in engineering. Pipe carving began as a hobby, but as time went by, he became more interested in pipe making as a profession. During the last 40 years Erik Nørding has built his own business, which today produces approximately 50,000 pipes a year.
5. W.O. Larsen - W.O. Larsen of Denmark is one of the most respected and revered pipe making families in the world. Currently in its fifth generation of pipe making, W.O. Larsen pipes are made from the very best Corsican briar and come in a variety of finishes, shapes and price ranges.
6. BriarWorks - Pipe makers Todd Johnson and Pete Prevost began work in 2012 to change the perception of what serially produced pipe manufacturing could be. That project evolved and grew and in 2013, BriarWorks began operations in Nashville, TN. Through hard work, ingenuity, and tenacity BriarWorks is producing some of the finest pipes ever made in a serial production environment.

Hobbies

 

What are your favorite hobbies to do while smoking a pipe?

I am a pipe smoker

I am a fly fisherman 

 

I tie my own flies

I am an artist

I am a carpenter

I am a cowboy

I am an equestrian

 

I am a chess player

I am a golfer

I am a melophile with a love of classical music 

I am a bibliophile 

I am a writer and poet

I am a cinephile

and 

I am an amateur tobacconist

Warren Hull

John Warren Hull, known professionally as Warren Hull, was an American actor, singer and television personality active from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was one of the most popular serial actors in the action-adventure field.

Hull was born on January 17, 1903 in Gasport, New York, Hull was one of three children born to John and Laura (nee Shafer) Hull. Both of his parents were Quakers. Hull attended Lockport High School, graduating in 1922. He then attended New York University with the intention of pursuing a career in business. He later decided to pursue a career in music and enrolled at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied voice. After completing his studies, he moved to New York City, where he became a chorus boy in Shubert operas and operettas. This eventually led to Hull working in Broadway musicals. In 1923, he began working as a radio announcer. Hull was the master of ceremonies for the first Your Hit Parade radio program and also worked as an announcer for The Beatrice Lillie Show.

In the mid-1930s, Hull pursued a screen career. He made his screen debut in 1934 for Educational Pictures, a short-subject studio. He co-starred opposite singer Sylvia Froos in the Young Romance series of musical comedies filmed in New York; Hull often joined Froos in song. In 1935 Hull was signed to a contract by Warner Bros., and spent the next few years playing leading men both in dramas and musicals.

When his Warners contract expired, Hull had no trouble finding work at other studios. He teamed with Patricia Ellis, one of his leading ladies at Warners, for the Republic Pictures musical Rhythm in the Clouds (1937). He also played romantic leads in a string of features for Monogram Pictures. Two of Hull's better-known appearances of this period were opposite Boris Karloff, in The Walking Dead (1936) and Night Key (1937). Some of Hull's early appearances have him billed as "J. Warren Hull."

In 1938, Columbia Pictures terminated its association with the Weiss Brothers, independent producers who had been making adventure serials for Columbia release, and decided to make its own cliffhangers. Warren Hull was signed for Columbia's second (and perhaps best) serial production, The Spider's Web (1938), based on a popular magazine character. Hull played three parts: criminologist Richard Wentworth, his masked-and-caped alter ego The Spider, and, in a second masquerade, lowlife mobster Blinky McQuade. The personable Hull brought a breezy sense of humor to his serial roles; he is probably the only serial hero who ever laughs on screen. Hull kept audiences following the Spider's thrilling exploits, making The Spider's Web the most popular and profitable serial of the year, outstripping such worthy cliffhangers as Buck Rogers and Dick Tracy Returns by a wide margin, according to a tally published in the Motion Picture Herald and The Film Daily.

Pleased with Hull's performance, Columbia cast him as Mandrake the Magician in its 1939 serial. Universal Pictures starred the now-established serial hero in The Green Hornet Strikes Again! (1941) and Columbia put him back in the mask and cloak for The Spider Returns (1941).

In the mid-1940s, Hull returned to radio announcing, appearing with frequency on such programs as Your Hit Parade and Vox Pop. During World War II, Hull traveled about the country and in Canada, putting on Vox Pop before servicemen at camps and bases. After the War, he did Vox Pop broadcasts from France, Britain, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. In 1947, he hosted The Warren Hull Show, for CBS radio. During this time, Hull also hosted Cavalcade of Bands for Dumont radio.

In 1948 he replaced Todd Russell as the host of the radio game show Strike It Rich. Hull continued as host when the show was adapted for television in 1951. This is the TV series for which Warren Hull is best known; Hull remained host for the duration of the series, which ended in 1958.

Hull was also the emcee of Spin to Win, only the second game show created by the team of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. In 1953–54, former Miss America Bess Myerson co-hosted a game show called "The Big Payoff"; Hull occasionally substituted for regular co-host Robert Paige. During the next two decades he hosted TV programs such as Top Dollar, Beat the Odds, and Public Prosecutor. By the early 1960s, Hull was largely retired and was living in Virginia Beach, Virginia. In 1962, he came out of retirement to host the game show Who in the World.

Hull was married four times and had four children. His first three marriages ended in divorce. His fourth marriage to Susan Fossum Stevens lasted until his death in 1974.

On September 14, 1974, Hull died of congestive heart failure at Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury, Connecticut, at the age of 71. His funeral was held on September 18 at the Church of the Epiphany in Southbury, Connecticut, after which he was buried at the New North Cemetery in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Sverre Walter Rostoft

Sverre Walter Rostoft was a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Conservative Party.

He was born on December 12, 1912 in Glemmen as a son of ship captain Georg Walter Andersen (1887–1952) and housewife Marta Walgjerta Hansen. He took commerce school in 1930 and the examen artium in 1935. He studied philology from 1935 to 1937, then worked as a secretary at Nylands Verksted until 1944. In 1947 he graduated with the cand.jur. degree.

He was hired as an office manager in Kristiansands Mekaniske Verksted in 1944. Already in 1945 he became chief executive officer, serving until 1979. He became a board member of the Federation of Norwegian Manufacturing Industries in 1949 and the Federation of Norwegian Industries in 1957. He served as president from 1962 to 1965.

Rostoft chaired the local Rotary club from 1949 to 1950. He was elected to Oddernes municipal council and served from 1951 to 1955. Other public posts in this period include board memberships of Kristiansand Port Authority from 1952 and Vest-Agder Elektrisitetsverk from 1954 (chair).

He was elected to the Parliament of Norway from Vest-Agder in 1953, lost his seat in 1957 but was later re-elected in 1965. Following the 1965 election, however, he was appointed Minister of Industry in the centre-right Borten's Cabinet. He held the position until Borten's Cabinet fell in 1971, and thus his seat in parliament was taken by Kolbjørn Stordrange the entire term (until 1969). Rostoft was also a central board member of the Conservative Party from 1954 to 1970.

He held a wide range of other positions. In education and culture he was a council member of NTNF from 1963 to 1965 and Agder District College and board member of the Norwegian Church Academies. He chaired the companies Oil Industry Services, Norske Folk, UNI Forsikring, Siemens Norge and Christianssands Bryggeri. He was a board member of Kristiansand Jernstøperi (1947–c.1965), Forsikringsselskapet Norrøna (1953–1972), Morgenbladet (1954–), Hunsfos Fabrikker (1961–1971), Norske Shell (1972–1982) and Strømmen Staal. He chaired the supervisory council of Hunsfos Fabrikker (1971–1972), was vice chair in Sagapart (1973–1979) and supervisory council member of Den norske Creditbank (1963–1965), Forsikringsselskapet Viking, Hypotekforeningen for næringslivet, and Storebrand.

He was decorated as a Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav in 1965, Commander of the Order of the Dannebrog in 1973 and received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1987. 

Rostoft died on April 26, 2001. 

Lewis Strauss

Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss was an American businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer who served two terms on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), the second as its chairman. He was a major figure in the development of nuclear weapons, the nuclear energy policy of the United States, and nuclear power in the United States.

Strauss was born on January 31, 1896 and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Strauss became an assistant to Herbert Hoover as part of relief efforts during and after World War I. Strauss then worked as an investment banker at Kuhn, Loeb & Co. during the 1920s and 1930s, where he amassed considerable wealth. As a member of the executive committee of the American Jewish Committee and several other Jewish organizations in the 1930s, Strauss made several attempts to change U.S. policy in order to accept more refugees from Nazi Germany but was unsuccessful. During World War II Strauss served as an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and rose to the rank of rear admiral due to his work in the Bureau of Ordnance in managing and rewarding plants engaged in production of munitions.

As a founding commissioner with the AEC during the early years of the Cold War, Strauss emphasized the need to protect U.S. atomic secrets and to monitor and stay ahead of atomic developments within the Soviet Union. As such Strauss was a strong proponent of developing the hydrogen bomb. During his stint as chairman of the AEC, Strauss urged the development of peaceful uses of atomic energy, including making an ill-advised prediction that atomic power would make electricity "too cheap to meter". At the same time he minimized the possible health effects of radioactive fallout such as those experienced by Pacific Islanders following the Castle Bravo thermonuclear test.

Strauss was the driving force in the controversial hearings, held in April 1954 before an AEC Personnel Security Board, in which physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked. As a result, Strauss has often been regarded as a villain in American history. President Dwight D. Eisenhower's nomination of Strauss to become U.S. Secretary of Commerce resulted in a prolonged, nationally visible political battle during 1959 and Strauss was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Strauss died on January 21, 1974.

Evert Endt

Evert Endt was a French designer.

Evert Endt was born in Zaandam, the Netherlands, in 1933. He grew up in Switzerland and studied in Zurich at the Kunstgewerbeschule.

In 1958, Endt started his career in the Compagnie de L'Esthétique Industrielle (CEI) by Raymond Loewy, a design agency based in Paris. He later became the Artistic Director and in 1968 the Director of the CEI, which is responsible for numerous programs of global design such as BP (British Petroleum), Royal Dutch Shell, Coop, and Elna Lotus (Permanent Collection of the Museum of Modern Art New York) and Rivella, Motta.

In 1974, he received French nationality. The following year, he set up Endt+Fulton Partners with American designer James F. Fulton. Since 1992 the agency participated in social programs focused on the environment. He works for various cultural and industrial bodies, under the Ministries of Health, Culture and French Justice.

He created exhibitions for the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie de la Villette. His permanent and temporary thematic exhibitions include "Living in Space", "Energies", and "New Materials".

In 1992, Evert Endt was appointed as director of Ensci/Les Ateliers - Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Creation Industrielle - in Paris. The following year, he became director for the postgraduate program in research and management of new technologies in the Samsung Laboratory for Innovative Design.

Endt died on March 21, 2025, at the age of 91.

Aleksandr Shirvindt

Aleksandr Anatolyevich Shirvindt was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, screenwriter and voice actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1989). Since 2000 he has been a theatre director of Moscow Satire Theatre.

Aleksandr Shirvindt was born on July 19, 1934 in Moscow in a family of a violinist and music teacher Anatoly Gustavovich Shirvindt (1896–1962) and Raisa Samoilovna Shirvindt (1898–1985) of Moscow Philharmonic Society. Grandfather, Gustav (Gedaliah) Moiseyevich Shirvindt (a graduate of Vilnius 1st Gymnasium in 1881), was a doctor.

In 1956 Shirvindt graduated from Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute. The same year he made his cinema debut in She Loves You! (1956).

Shirvindt appeared in more than 40 films, including Grandads-Robbers (1971), The Irony of Fate (1975), The Twelve Chairs (1976), Three Men in a Boat (1979), Station for Two (1982), The Irony of Fate 2 (2007). He voiced Aramis in Dog in Boots film.

Shirvindt died on March 15, 2024, at the age of 89.

Books on Pipe Smoking

While in college I developed a fascination with literature and would spend hours reading in our campus library. As an enthusiast of literature I find reading and smoking a pipe very relaxing.  I have in my personal library many great works by some of the most prolific authors but there is something about my books on pipe smoking that has always intrigued me.  Below I have compiled a list of books from my personal library that I have enjoyed reading over and over again. Most of these books are not in print anymore but can be found online at many different used book stores, Amazon, and eBay.

The Ultimate Pipe Book: By Richard Carleton Hacker

Pipe Smoking a 21st Century Guide: By Richard Carleton Hacker

Rare Smoke The Ultimate Guide to Pipe Smoking: By Richard Carleton Hacker

Weber's Guide to Pipes and Pipe Smoking: By Carl Weber

The Perfect Pipe: By H. Paul Jeffers

The Pipe A Functional Work of Art: By Justin Hummerston and Morten Ehrhorn

The Book of Pipes and Tobacco: By Carl Ehwa Jr.

All About Tobacco: By Milton M. Sherman 

The Tobacconist Handbook An Essential Guide to Cigars and Pipes: By Jorge Armenteros

There are still more books that I have on my list to read but have not read yet that may be of interest. 

• The Pipe Book: By Alfred Dunhill
• In Search of Pipe Dreams: By Rick Newcombe
• Still Searching for Pipe Dreams: By Rick Newcombe
• Christian Pipe Smoking An Introduction to Holy Incense: Uri Brito and Joffre Swait
• The Perfect Smoke Gourmet Pipe Smoking for Relaxation and Reflection: By Fred Hanna

If there are any books that you think should be included in this list please don't hesitate to contact me and let me know. 

Elimelekh Rimalt

Rabbi Dr Elimelekh-Shimon Rimalt was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. He served as Minister of Postal Services between December 1969 and August 1970.

Rimalt was born on November 1, 1907 in Bochnia in the Galicia area of Austria-Hungary, Rimalt studied at a heder and yeshiva, as well as a Hebrew high school in Kraków. While living in Poland he was one of the founders of the Akiva Hebrew Youth Organisation. He went on to study at a rabbinical seminary in Vienna, and gained a PhD in philosophy from the University of Vienna, where he was chairman of the Zionist Students Group.

In 1939, he made aliyah to Mandatory Palestine, and worked as headmaster of a school in Ramat Gan. In 1943, he was appointed director of the city's department of education, serving until 1952.

In 1951, he was elected to the Knesset on the General Zionists list, and was also a member of Ramat Gan city council, serving as deputy mayor responsible for education between 1955 and 1959. In 1952 he became chairman of the General Zionist Labour Federation, a role he held until 1965. By that time the General Zionists had merged into the Liberal Party, which had become a faction within the Gahal alliance (later Likud); Rimalt was appointed chairman of the Liberal Party's directorate in 1965, having won re-election to the Knesset in 1955, 1959, 1961 and 1965.

Following the formation of a national unity government after the 1969 elections, Rimalt was appointed Minister of Postal Services. However, he left the cabinet in 1970 when Gahal withdrew from the coalition. The following year he became chairman of the Liberal Party, a role he held until 1975. He chose not to run for re-election in the 1977 elections, having been an MK for just under 26 years.

Rimalt died on November 5, 1987 four days after his 80th birthday. 

Eduard Volodarsky

Eduard Yakovlevich Volodarsky was a Soviet and Russian screenwriter, writer and playwright. He was named Honoured Artist of the RSFSR in 1987, awarded the Order of Honour in 2002 and 4th class Order "For Merit to the Fatherland" in 2011 for his contribution to the development of national cinema.

Eduard Volodarsky was born on February 3, 1941 in Kharkov (today's Kharkiv, Ukraine) to a Russian mother and a Jewish father who had recently graduated from a technical university. His mother Maria Yakovlevna Brigova came from peasants of the Oryol Governorate. With the start of the Great Patriotic War they were evacuated to Aktyubinsk, Kazakh SSR. Eduard never knew his father, Yakov Isaakovich Volodarsky, who was killed at front. His mother served as an NKVD investigator and married an NKVD officer. In 1947 the family moved to Moscow. Eduard didn't get along with the stepfather and spent all free time at streets with hooligans. That's when he met Vladimir Vysotsky, his best friend since.

Volodarsky was baptized at the age of six under the Fyodor name and remained in the Russian Orthodox Church for the rest of his life. He started writing stories and poetry at school. Upon graduation he tried to enter the MSU Faculty of Geology, but failed and joined a geological expedition. He spent some years working as a driller at the Russian North. At one point he sent his stories to the contest organized by the VGIK Screenwriting Faculty and received an invitation. In 1962 he returned to Moscow and passed the entering exams, but was expelled in 1.5 years for a restaurant fight. Volodarsky was later restored and in 1968 finished Yevgeny Gabrilovich's course. He quickly turned into one of the most prolific Soviet screenwriters, often producing 3–5 screenplays per year (over 80 screenplays in total).

In 1971 Aleksei German directed Trial of the Road adapted from Volodarsky's screenplay which was, in turn, based on Yuri German's novel. The story touched a controversial theme of a Nazi collaborator who wanted to join Soviet partisans and was put to the test. The role had been written with Vysotsky in mind, but German rejected him. Despite getting approval from influential people like Konstantin Simonov, it was labelled as "anti-Soviet" by Mikhail Suslov. Described as "deforming the image of the heroic time, of Soviet people who stood up to fight German fascists on the occupied territories", it was banned for 15 years and released only in 1986. The film crew was awarded the USSR State Prize for it in 1988. Same happened to My Friend Ivan Lapshin which was shelved for three years and then awarded the Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR.

In 1974 Nikita Mikhalkov made his directorial debut with At Home Among Strangers, a Red Western about a group of friends – former Red Army soldiers, now Chekists – who investigated a train robbery, resulting in a heist reminiscent of the Great Train Robbery. It was based on the Red Gold novel by Mikhalkov and Volodarsky. Full of symbolism and innovative filming techniques, it quickly turned into a cult classic, bolstering the career of the young director.

Volodarsky also experienced a successful theatre career after rewriting his early unfilmed screenplay into the Our Debts play. Staged by Oleg Yefremov at the Moscow Art Theatre, it drew a full house for 10 years straight and was eventually adapted into a movie. According to Volodarsky, at the time his plays were staged all over the USSR and he earned 4000 rubles monthly, which was five times more than a minister's salary, yet he and Vysotsky spent all money on booze. During late 1980s he began writing historical and biographical novels; some of them were also made into TV series. He was among the few Soviet screenwriters still in great demand after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Eduard Volodarsky died on October 8, 2012 in his Moscow flat aged 71.

Laurence Gilliam

Laurence Duval Gilliam was a BBC radio producer.

Gilliam worked with the Gramophone Company, before transferred to the BBC drama department in 1933, where he was responsible for features. At the end of World War II he was appointed OBE for his outstanding programs.

Laurence Duval Gilliam was born on March 4, 1907 in Fulham, London, the younger son of Ernest William Gilliam (d. 1943), a businessman, and his wife, Beatrice Bishop (d. 1946). He was educated at the City of London School (1918–25) and Peterhouse, Cambridge (1925–28).

Laurence Gilliam worked first with the Gramophone Company in various capacities, and later as a freelance journalist, actor, and producer, before joining the editorial staff of the Radio Times in 1932.

Gilliam transferred to the BBC drama department in 1933, where he worked on the development of special feature programmes which wove sound, words, and music together to create an aural picture. From 1933 until the end of his life he was responsible for the world-wide Christmas Day programmes that preceded the monarch's address. These programmes were the BBC's technically most complicated assignment, linking the Commonwealth outposts with Broadcasting House in London via elaborate world-wide link-ups. Another notable example of Gilliam's early technical ambition was ′Opping 'Oliday—a "sound picture" of hop picking in Kent—which he produced in 1934 using the newly established mobile recording van. Val Gielgud, head of drama, transferred responsibility for features to Gilliam in May 1936, though features really came into their own during the Second World War.[2]

In 1940 Gilliam married Marianne Helweg (1914–1976), a Dane whose father, Jacob Helweg, had immigrated to Britain in the 1920s to take up a lecturing position at the University of London. The couple met at the BBC, where Marianne had been a plays reader. She and Laurence had three sons and one daughter. They lived in Highgate, Middlesex, until the marriage was dissolved in 1952, when Marianne moved in with the Northern Irish poet Bertie (W. R.) Rodgers, who worked for Gilliam.

Gilliam saw the possibilities for the medium of radio to reflect the reality of war. In his major topical series The Shadow of the Swastika, which documented the rise of Nazism, Gilliam demonstrated the power of the factual documentary for propaganda purposes and offered the first challenging piece of work from the BBC since the outbreak of war. Gilliam had a natural sympathy for the journalistic approach to broadcasting, and his war work reflected these instincts. As one of the two editors (with Donald Boyd) of War Report, he helped to create a revolutionary technique on which all news reporting has since been based, taking the microphone to the fighting line to report back to the people at home nightly, in record time. In recognition of this outstanding war record, features became a separate department at the end of the war in 1945, with Laurence Gilliam as its head, and Gilliam himself was appointed OBE.

Throughout the post-war period—the ‘golden age of radio’—Gilliam did more than anyone in the BBC to recruit and encourage poets and writers to contribute work for the BBC features department. He showed a gift for leadership which inspired devoted loyalty in a group of the most talented writers and producers in radio history, including Louis MacNeice, Douglas Cleverdon, Leonard Cottrell, Jennifer Wayne, Christopher Sykes, W. R. Rodgers, Francis Dillon, Nesta Pain, Wynford Vaughan Thomas, Alan Burgess, and D. G. Bridson.

He maintained strongly that the feature was the one unique form that radio had achieved in its short history; and it was largely due to him that features came to stand for so much that was vital, contemporary, experimental, and above all ‘pure radio’. In his book BBC Features, edited by Gilliam, published by Evans Brothers in 1950, Gilliam described a Feature Programme as "in broadcasting, the term has come to signify a wide range of programme items, usually factual and documentary, presented by a variety of techniques, but mostly making use of edited actuality. The essential quality of the feature programme is that it should be the expression of one mind, whatever technique it uses."

Laurence Gilliam died of cancer of the kidneys on November 15, 1964 in St Andrew's Hospital, Dollis Hill, Middlesex.

W. R. Rodgers

William Robert Rodgers a poet, but was also a prose essayist, a book reviewer, a radio broadcaster and script writer, a lecturer and, latterly, a teacher, and a former Presbyterian minister.

Rodgers was born in Belfast and grew up in Mountpottinger. He showed a talent for writing and went on to read English at Queen's University Belfast where he won a number of prizes for literary essays, graduating in 1931. On completion of his degree, he entered Presbyterian Theological College and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1935. He was first appointed to Loughgall Presbyterian Church, Loughgall, County Armagh, where he was minister for 12 years. In 1936 he married Marie Harden Waddell, a medical doctor who set up practice in the village. Awake! and Other Poems (1941) was given glowing reviews in Britain and America, although the first edition was almost totally lost when the publisher's warehouse was destroyed in the London Blitz. His wife became ill  and left Loughgall temporarily in 1943. He returned to Loughgall after a year but resigned from his ministry in 1946 to take up post at the BBC in London as a scriptwriter for the newly established BBC Third Programme after being approached by Louis MacNeice and offered a post. He involved himself in the Regionalist movement among Ulster writers in the 1940s and 1950s and contributed to a number journals which were used as a vehicle for the regionalist movement such as Lagan, The Bell and Rann. 

Rodgers stayed at the BBC as a full-time producer and scriptwriter until 1953. He produced a highly innovative series of radio broadcasts on Irish literary figures: Irish literary portraits. He was elected a life member of the Irish Academy of Letters in 1951 to fill the vacancy due to the death of George Bernard Shaw and was a member of the Literature and Poetry Panel of the Arts Council of Great Britain and a board member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His wife died in 1953, following a period of illness. In the same year he married Marianne Gilliam (née Helweg), the ex-wife of his immediate boss in the BBC, Lawrence Gilliam. They lived in England until 1966 when Rodgers secured a post as writer in residence at Pitzer College in Claremont, California and later a lecturing post at California State Polytechnic University. In 1968 he was awarded a life annuity of £100 by the Arts Council of Ireland as an acknowledgement of his distinction in letters and of the honor which his literary work had reflected on Ireland.

 He died in 1969 in Los Angeles and was buried at Loughgall, County Armagh.