New York

Did you know? Two years after his Oscars for "The Deer Hunter", Michael Cimino was hailed as an untouchable directing genius. Then came "Heaven's Gate" — a western epic so lavish that its 1980 failure became a turning point. United Artists was sold soon after, and the freewheeling director-driven cinema of the 1970s was declared over. A single film made Hollywood history — as a cautionary tale.

Did you know? After his liberation from Buchenwald in 1945, Elie Wiesel did not speak of what he had endured for ten years. "I made a vow: not to speak, not to touch upon the essential for at least ten years," he later explained — long enough to find the right words. Only then did he write "Night," which became an enduring testimony to the Holocaust.

Did you know? To the world Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks were inseparable for seven decades. In Reiner's final years Brooks came over nearly every evening: dinner together, "Jeopardy!", then a movie. Reiner's very last evening, June 29, 2020, was the same – in front of the TV, beside his oldest friend.

Did you know? Back in 1970, long before the internet or the smartphone, Alvin Toffler described in "Future Shock" the feeling of being overwhelmed by too much change in too little time – and coined the term "information overload." His most important collaborator was his wife Heidi, who co-wrote for decades uncredited before finally being named as co-author.

Did you know? Nora Ephron learned of her blood disorder, a pre-leukemic condition, in 2006 — and kept it secret from almost all of her friends and colleagues for nearly six years. She wanted to keep working and feared a known diagnosis would stall her career. Only when she died in 2012 did the world learn that the woman behind "When Harry Met Sally" and "Sleepless in Seattle" had been quietly fighting all that time.

Remembering Ann Blyth (1928 – 2026). 🕯️ At 16, she earned an Oscar nomination for “Mildred Pierce”. An actress and singer who helped define the Golden Age of Hollywood — now one of its last voices falls silent.

Did you know? The idea for "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" began with a hole punch: while punching holes through a stack of paper, Eric Carle thought of a bookworm – which grew into the hungry caterpillar that eats its way through the pages. The holes in the book are sized to fit a small child's fingertip.

Did you know? Eli Wallach acted in more than 90 films across six decades — from Tuco in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" to the bandit Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven." Not one of those roles ever earned him an Oscar nomination. Only in 2010, at the age of 94, did he receive an Honorary Academy Award for his life's work — becoming the oldest Oscar recipient ever.

Did you know? When Peter Falk was three, his right eye was removed because of a tumor – for the rest of his life he wore a glass eye that gave him his unmistakable gaze. As a boy playing baseball, after an umpire called him out, he plucked out the glass eye, handed it over and said: "Here, I think you need this more than I do."

Did you know? Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine — and deliberately chose never to patent it. Asked who owned the patent, he replied: "The people. There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" A fortune was within reach; he chose to give it to everyone.