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Minnesota Biographies
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Michele Marie Amble Bachmann (born April 6, 1956) is the United States Representative of Minnesota's 6th congressional district and member of the Republican Party. She is the third woman and first Republican woman to represent Minnesota in Congress. She defeated her Democratic challenger, Elwyn Tinklenberg, in the 2008 election in a race that had gained national attention following her controversial televised call for the media to investigate members of Congress for perceived anti-American bias, including Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The 6th congressional district includes the northern far suburbs of the Twin Cities along with St. Cloud. She won 50 percent of the votes in the 2006 election, defeating Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate Patty Wetterling and the Independence Party's John Binkowski. Bachmann served in the Minnesota State Senate from 2001 to 2007. Bachmann Calls on the American People to Bring the Town Hall To Washington Town Hall Blog
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LaVerne, Maxene, and Patti Andrews singers, Minneapolis were an American close harmony singing group, consisting of sisters LaVerne Sophia Andrews (contralto; July 6, 1911 May 8, 1967), Maxene Angelyn Andrews (soprano; January 3, 1918 October 21, 1995), and Patricia Marie (a.k.a. Patty) Andrews (mezzo-soprano; lead; born February 16, 1918). All were born in Minnesota to to a Greek immigrant father and a Norwegian American mother.
Patty, the youngest and the lead singer of the group, was only seven when the group was formed, and just twelve years old when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Once the sisters found fame and settled in California, their parents lived with them in a Brentwood estate until their deaths, and several cousins from Minnesota followed them west. The sisters returned to Minneapolis at least once a year to visit family and friends and/or perform.
They started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the Boswell Sisters. After singing with various dance bands and touring in vaudeville with the likes of Ted Mack, Leon Belasco, and comic bandleader Larry Rich, they first came to national attention with their recordings and radio broadcasts in 1937 Andrews Sisters Books Andrews Sisters Discography
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Charles Bender (1883 - 1954) The first pitcher in baseball to win six World Series games; born in Crow Wing County. Charles Bender Books |
Patty Berg (1918 - ) One of the greatest female golfers ever, founded the U.S. Ladies¢ Professional Golfers¢ Association; born in Minneapolis. Patty Berg Books |
Warren E. Burger jurist, Saint Paul Warren E. Burger Books |
William O. Douglass (1898 - 1980) The Longest-serving U.S. Supreme Court Justice; born in Maine. William O. Douglass Books |
Bob Dylan (1941 - ) Songwriter and singer whose songs of protest made him a hero to the civil-rights and student movements of the 1960s; born in Hibbing Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades.Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'," became anthems for both the civil rights and the anti-war movements. Dylan's early lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. While expanding and personalizing genres, he has explored many traditions of American song, from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly to English, Scottish and Irish folk music, and even jazz and swing.
Dylan performs with guitar, piano and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting. He has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Bob Dylan Website Bob Dylan Discography Bob Dylan Books
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F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) Author famous for his characters and sense of style as in The Great Gatsby; born in St. Paul. F. Scott Fitzgerald Books |
Vince Flynn (born April 6, 1966) is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels. He lives with his wife and three children in the Twin Cities. He also served as a story consultant for the fifth season of the 24 television series. His newfound interest in such novels motivated him to begin work on a novel of his own. While employed as a bartender in the St. Paul area, he completed his first book, Term Limits, which he then self-published. "I had just finished reading The Government Racket: Washington Waste from A to Z, by Martin L. Gross. It is without a doubt the most disheartening and enlightening book about politics that I've ever read. I was out jogging one day wondering what it would take to really change Washington, when my thoughts turned to a friend who had been shot and killed in Washington, D.C., several summers earlier. As I continued running, a story started to unfold."
Pocket Books published the hardcover edition of Term Limits in 1998, and the mass market paperback of Term Limits in 1999, which spent several weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.
Subsequent works, including Flynn's 1999 novel, Transfer of Power, his 2000 novel The Third Option and his 2001 novel Separation of Power, also appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, with Separation of Power reaching as high as #7. Vince Flynn Books
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James Earle Fraser sculptor, Winona James Earle Fraser Books |
Judy Garland - (June 10, 1922 June 22, 1969) Singer and Actress most famous for her role as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy Award, won a Golden Globe Award, received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her work in films, as well as Grammy Awards and a Special Tony Award. She had a contralto singing range. After appearing in vaudeville with her sisters, Garland was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. There she made more than two dozen films, including nine with Mickey Rooney, and the film with which she would be most identified, The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Despite her professional triumphs, Garland battled personal problems throughout her life. Insecure about her appearance, her feelings were compounded by film executives who told her she was unattractive and overweight. Plied with drugs to control her weight and increase her productivity, Garland endured a decades-long struggle with addiction. Garland was plagued by financial instability, often owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, and her first four of five marriages ended in divorce. She attempted suicide on a number of occasions. Garland died of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 47, leaving children Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft. Judy Garland Books Judy Garland Movies Judy Garland Discography
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J. Paul Getty (1892 - 1976) Richest man in the world when he died; born in Minneapolis. J. Paul Getty Books |
Duane Hanson sculptor, Alexandria Duane Hanson Books |
Hubert H. Humphrey (1911 - 1978), U. S. senator and vice president of the U. S. (1965 - 1969); Democratic candidate for president, 1968; Minnesota Senator. Hubert H. Humphrey Books |
Garrison Keillor (1942 - ) Author and host of "A Prairie Home Companion"; born in Anoka. Garrison Keillor Books |
Jessica Lange actress, Cloquet Jessica Phyllis Lange (born April 20, 1949) is an American stage and screen actress. With a career that has spanned thirty-five years and six Academy Award nominations (including two wins), she may be most notable for her performances in Frances, Tootsie, Sweet Dreams, Blue Sky, and Grey Gardens.
Lange, the third of four children, was born in Cloquet, Minnesota, the daughter of Dorothy Florence (née Sahlman) and Albert John Lange, who was a teacher and salesman. Her maternal grandparents were of Finnish descent, while her paternal grandparents were German and Dutch. She studied art briefly at the University of Minnesota before going to Paris, France, where she studied mime with Étienne Decroux. She returned to New York City, New York in 1973 and took acting lessons while working as a waitress and a fashion model for the Wilhelmina Models agency. She was discovered by the fashion illustrator Antonio in 1974. Jessica Lange Books Jessica Lange Movies
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Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951) The first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, he wrote of small town life such as Main Street; born in Sauk Centre. Sinclair Lewis Books |
Edward Lowe inventor, Saint Paul Edward Lowe Books |
John Madden (1936 - ) Emmy Award winning sport analyst and commentator and former coach of the Oakland Raiders; born in Austin. John Madden Books |
Roger Maris baseball player, Hibbing (1934 - 1985) Baseball player that while playing for the Yankees made history hitting 61 home runs in a single season; born in Hibbing. Roger Maris Books |
E. G. Marshall actor, Owatonna (June 18, 1914 August 24, 1998) was an American actor, best known for his TV roles as the lawyer Lawrence Preston on The Defenders in the 1960s, and as neurosurgeon Dr. David Craig on The Bold Ones: The New Doctors in the 1970s. Among his film roles, he is perhaps best known as the unflappable Juror #4 in Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama 12 Angry Men.
Marshall was born Everett Eugene Grunz in Owatonna, Minnesota, the son of Hazel Irene (née Cobb) and Charles G. Grunz. During his life, he never divulged fully what 'E.G' stood for, telling most people it stood for "Everybody's Guess". Although most familiar from his television and movie roles, E. G. Marshall came from a distinguished Broadway background, appearing in the original New York productions of The Skin of Our Teeth, The Iceman Cometh, and lead roles in The Crucible and Waiting for Godot.
Marshall was the original host of the popular nightly radio drama The CBS Radio Mystery Theater (or CBSRMT), which ran on CBS radio affiliate stations across the United States between 1974 and 1982. CBSRMT was an ambitious and sustained attempt to revive the great drama of old-time radio. Each episode began with the ominous sound of a creaking door, slowly opening to invite listeners in for the evening's adventure. At the end of each show, the door would swing shut, with Marshall signing off, "Until next time, pleasant... dre-e-eams?" Marshall hosted the program for the first seven years. Failing health forced his departure in 1981, and he was replaced by actress Tammy Grimes for the final season. E. G. Marshall Books E. G. Marshall Movies
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Charles Horace Mayo (1865 - 1939) Physicians who co-founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Charles Horace Mayo Books |
William J. Mayo (1861 - 1939) surgeon, Le Sueur - co-founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. William J. Mayo Books |
Eugene McCarthy (1916 - ) U.S. Senator from Minnesota. Professor, author, and poet; born in Watkins. Eugene McCarthy Books |
Kate Millett feminist, Saint Paul Kate Millett Books |
Walter Frederick Mondale (1928 - ) 42d vice-president of the United States (1977 - 1980); Democratic candidate for president of the United States in 1984. Walter Frederick Mondale Books |
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