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Arts
Frank
Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was born in Richland
Center, Wisconsin on June 8, 1869. His father was a minister
who listened to classical music, which influenced his son's
later work. When he was 15 he took engineering at the
University of Wisconsin because the school had no course in
architecture.
Wright became a leader for the Prairie
Style of Architecture. In the 1930's Wright started working
on his clever burst of do-it-yourself houses he called
Usonian. He built until World War II and after it had ended
he started to keep on building.
He received the gold medal of the Royal
Institute of British Architects in 1941 and a medal from the
American Institute of Architects in 1949.
He influenced the work of other
architects. Although successful as an architect, Wright's
private life was not as successful. He was married three
times and had seven children. He died on April 9,
1959.
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Elvis
Presley
Elvis was born in Tupelo, Miss. During
his early life in Mississippi, he was exposed to the music
that shaped his singing style--country and rhythm and blues.
When he was 13 years old, he moved with his family to
Memphis, Tenn. At the age of 18, while driving a truck for a
living, Elvis entered the Sun studio run by Phillips in
Tennessee. Elvis stopped in too , presumably for his mom's
birthday. Phillips signed him to a recording contract.
Elvis' 1954 recording "That's All Right, Mama" became a
local hit.
Elvis'
records sold so well that he attracted the interest of
national sound companies, especially RCA. Encouraged by
Parker, Elvis' RCA bought the singer's contract from Sun .
Using the enormous resources of RCA, Parker made Elvis a
national phenomenon. On September, 1956, a record number of
people watched Presley sing on the Ed Sullivan television
variety show. Presley's early hits for RCA included
"Heartbreak Hotel" (1956), "Don't Be Cruel" (1956), "Love Me
Tender" (1956), "All Shook Up" (1957), "Teddy Bear" (1957),
"Loving You" (1957), "Jailhouse Rock" (1957), and "It's Now
or Never" (1960). Elvis also launched a picture career,
beginning with Love Me Tender (1956). He made 32 other
films.
Elvis was particularly popular with
teens, who liked his style as well as his music. However,
his style also began a storm of criticism. Some towns banned
his concerts, and television programs began showing him only
from the waist up. In 1958, Elvis was inducted into the U.S.
Army. He spent two years in the Army, primarily in Germany.
There he met 14-year old Priscilla Beaulieu. They were
married in 1967 and had a daughter, Marie, born in 1968.
They were divorced in 1973. After his discharge from the
military, Elvis regained his picture career and gave up
making live shows. In 1968, believing that the music
business was passing him by, Elvis prepared a comeback on
TV. The program, his first live performance in almost eight
years, was so popular that Presley resumed touring. He also
recorded such hit songs as "In the Ghetto" (1969) and
"Suspicious Minds" (1969). His fans broadened to include
older fans in addition to teens. Presley had made an
unsuccessful show at a Las Vegas hotel in 1956. He returned
to the city in 1969, where he was an enormous success.
Until his death, he was the most popular
entertainer in Las Vegas. At first, Elvis's return to live
performances seemed to energize him. However, the pressures
of being the "king" of rock music undermined his health. He
began taking pills to sleep, to wake up, and to keep his
weight down. He died at Graceland, his home in Memphis, at
42. Many people believe drugs hastened his early death.
Since his death, Elvis has become an even more celebrated
figure. The devotion of his audience has become almost
religious in its intensity. Graceland has become a major
international tourist attraction. Thousands of his fans from
around the world make a pilgrimage to Graceland every year,
especially on the anniversary of Presley's death on August
16, 1977.
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