![]() Born in Hungary and raised in Appleton, Wis., Houdini (real name: Erik Weisz) traveled the globe, dazzling audiences with his magic and escape-artist routines. One of the actresses Stapleton beat to win her Oscar was Elizabeth McGovern, who played Nesbit in the (nonmusical) film version of “Ragtime” and who currently stars on PBS’ “Downton Abbey.” Nesbit was also played by Joan Collins in the 1955 “Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.”īest known for: Wriggling out of tight places. Thaw, as related in the show’s song, “Crime of the Century.” “Ragtime” supplies her with another (fictional) beau, the character known as Younger Brother.įun fact: Coincidentally, the 1981 best-supporting-actress race shows up again. White was later shot dead by Nesbit’s subsequent husband, Harry K. At 16, she began an affair with 47-year-old architect Stanford White, who reportedly enjoyed pushing her on an indoor swing made of red velvet. Leon Czolgosz, who assassinated President William McKinley, said he was influenced by Goldman’s anarchic speeches.īest known for: She was the world’s first supermodel in the early days of mass-market photography. She was frequently jailed for pro-union, pro-women’s suffrage and pro-birth control demonstrations. Here’s who’s who among who’s real in “Ragtime”:īest known for: The woman who said, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution” was a native of Russia who came to America just before the turn of the 20th century. Meanwhile, the fictional characters also cross paths with a bunch of famous and once-famous figures. Their stories gradually wind together as the stirring musical, set in 1906 at the height of syncopated ragtime music, reaches its politically charged climax. “Negro” piano player Coalhouse Walker and his girlfriend, Sarah and Eastern European immigrants including Tateh, who hopes to get in on the ground floor of the movie business. ![]() The musical features three groups of characters: a wealthy East Coast family whose members are referred to as Mother, Father, Younger Brother, etc. Now commonplace in novels (“Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter,” anyone?), the technique still feels fresh in the musical adaptation of “Ragtime,” which opens Jan. ![]() Doctorow broke new ground in 1975 when his novel “Ragtime” focused on historical figures interacting in a fictional setting. It no longer seems revolutionary, but E.L. ![]()
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