I . Artie Shaw
(1910– )
a US musician who led big bands in the 1930s and 1940s. He also played the clarinet and wrote music. One of his best-known tunes is Begin the Beguine (1938). Shaw also led a US Navy band during World War II . He has married eight times and his wives have included the actors Lana Turner and Ava Gardner . He received a Grammy award in 2004 for lifetime achievement.
II . George Bernard Shaw
(1856–1950)
an Irish writer of plays, novels and articles about music and literature who lived in England for much of his life. He is best known for his plays, which are full of intelligent and amusing remarks and criticisms of society. He is also famous for his campaigns for social change. He was one of the earliest members of the Fabian Society and a supporter of feminism (= women’s rights) and vegetarianism (= not eating meat). His best-known works include The Devil’s Disciple (1897), Major Barbara (1905) and Pygmalion (1913). He was given the Nobel Prize for literature in 1925. When he died he left money for the invention of a new alphabet that would make the English spelling system simpler.
See also Shavian .