(1890-1976) Austrian film director. His films are characterized by a strong sense of fatalism and alienation. His German films include Metropolis 1927, the sensational M 1931, in which Peter Lorre starred as a child-killer, and the series of Dr Mabuse films, after which he fled from the Nazis to Hollywood 1935. His US films include Fury 1936, You Only Live Once 1937, Scarlet Street 1945, Rancho Notorious 1952, and The Big Heat 1953. He returned to Germany and directed a third picture in the Dr Mabuse series 1960.

(1961-) Canadian singer. Her mellifluous voice and androgynous image gained her a wide following beyond the country-music field where she first established herself. Her albums include Angel With a Lariat 1987, Shadowland 1988, Absolute Torch and Twang 1989, the mainstream Ingénue 1992, and Even Cowgirls get the Blues 1993.
Lang, born in Consort, Alberta, started out as a performance artist. As a vocalist, she has been particularly influenced by US country singer Patsy Cline (1932–1963), whose material she often covers; she calls her backing band the Reclines. She made her debut as an actress 1992 starring in the film Salmonberries by Percy Adlon.

(“Jack”) (1876-1975) Australian Labor politician, premier of New South Wales 1925–27, 1930–32. His first government introduced social reforms such as child endowment, widows’ pensions, and reduced working hours. His second term of government was at the height of the Depression. At this time the New South Wales Labor Party split from the national Labor Party and Lang was instrumental in the fall of the Scullin government. Lang’s plan for combating the economic problems of the time by non-payment or reduction of interest on loans led to his dismissal in May 1932 by the governor, Sir Philip Game, and his defeat at the subsequent election. He remained a powerful figure in Australian politics with an electoral following despite his rejection by the federal Labor Party and his propensity for faction fighting. Finally expelled from the New South Wales Labor Party, he entered federal parliament in 1946 representing his “non-communist” Labor Party but lost the seat three years later. His turbulent career had seen him move from the far lef
t to the far right of the Australian Labor movement.

(1844-1912) Scottish historian and folklore scholar. His writings include historical works; anthropological essays, such as Myth, Ritual and Religion 1887 and The Making of Religion 1898, which involved him in controversy with the anthropologist James G Frazer; novels; and a series of children’s books, beginning with The Blue Fairy Tale Book 1889.