Actress Valerie Mahaffey, ‘Northern Exposure' Emmy Winner, Dies After Cancer Battle
Mahaffey died Friday in Los Angeles, according to publicist Jillian Roscoe.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Epoch Times
4 hours ago
- Epoch Times
3 Shakespeare One-Liners That Nail It
Shakespeare was a master of the English language, and we owe to him over 1,700 new words, which were either entirely invented by him (for example, 'lonely'), combined existing words in novel ways ('bedroom'), added prefixes or suffixes to existing words ('dauntless'), or simply changed the function of the traditional part of speech ('elbow' as a verb). Even personal names were invented by him—the name Jessica, for example, is recorded as first appearing in 'The Merchant of Venice.' This incredible linguistic fluency was, of course, one of the reasons why he was, and is, considered such a great poet, and why he remains the most widely quoted writer in the English language (though the Bible remains the most quoted source). It is easy, therefore, to quote ringing passages from his plays or poems.
New York Times
a day ago
- New York Times
On Canada's Top Stage, Macbeth and Annie Are Talking to Americans
The Canadian 'elbows up' attitude was showing. Driving through the countryside from Toronto, we noticed it everywhere, in the nicest northerly way. Maple leaf flaglets fluttering from car windows. 'True North Strong' yard signs. Banners suggesting, as if in code, 'Never 51.' But once we arrived at the Stratford Festival, situated among the rolling plains of southwestern Ontario, the gloves came off. Though the season was planned well before the 2024 U.S. presidential election, this year's productions at the country's (and likely the continent's) largest nonprofit theater seemed to be sending a message. The message was clearest in the three gripping Shakespeare productions I saw during a six-day, seven-show visit. But 'Annie,' no less than Lady Macbeth, had something to say to Canada's neighbor to the south. Until experiencing those Shakespeares in quick succession here, I had never deeply absorbed how so many of the canonical plays are set in motion by the same chaotic figure: a man temperamentally unsuited to the wise use of great power. In 'Macbeth' he is the quick-rising warrior whose wobbly personality (and overcompensating wife) bring on a blood bath of internecine carnage. In 'The Winter's Tale' he is Leontes, the king of Sicily, whose insecurity results in civil chaos. Likewise, Duke Fredrick, in 'As You Like It,' having usurped his sibling's throne, falls prey to fits of Freudian malice that send his country's best people into exile. No matter that 'Macbeth' is a tragedy, 'The Winter's Tale' a romance and 'As You Like It' a comedy. Regardless of genre, all are warnings. And though some suggest the possibility of reconciliation and recovery, not one offers a reliable map. Certainly not 'Macbeth.' (You can't reconcile with a corpse.) Stratford's production, directed by the chic avant-gardist Robert Lepage, imagines Banquo, Macduff and the others as members of a motorcycle gang during the Quebec Biker War of the 1990s, their clan affiliations displayed on the backs of their leather jackets. Macbeth has a greasy salt-and-pepper Prince Valiant; his lady is a groupie in a Bonnie Raitt wig. They live in a roadside motel where a mopey cleaner must mop up the blood. The witches' cauldron is an oil canister. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
2 days ago
- New York Times
Did We Miss the Happy Ending in ‘Hamlet'?
To the Editor: Re 'Listen to 'Hamlet.' Feel Better,' by Jeremy McCarter (Opinion guest essay, July 23): I appreciate Mr. McCarter's provocative thoughts on William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet.' I agree with most of them, but the conclusion is off. Hamlet is ready to face death in the lines quoted at the end of this essay, but not because he has found peace, at least not completely. While the play can indeed be read as a coming-of-age story, 'outgrowing' gloom, whether about the past or future, is not really the point. Mr. McCarter points out that Hamlet's curiosity has sustained him through his dark times. But it is something more than that. Hamlet is fiercely dedicated to finding out the truth, revealing it and correcting the lies and calumnies told to conceal it. When he knows his death is near, his final plea to Horatio is to 'tell my story.' Hamlet's great life force comes from his unquenchable desire to help the truth to 'will out,' as it were. The rest, as he says in his dying breath, is silence. Dorothy Dean WaltonMexico City To the Editor: I taught 'Hamlet' for 35 years, mostly to gifted high school seniors. I witnessed numerous adaptations and costume updates. Never did anyone take this tack. I love the idea of an uplifted and resolved Hamlet who has learned to live in the moment! My students would have loved it, too. Particularly in these trying and confusing times. Dana EdenbaumBala Cynwyd, Pa. To the Editor: 'If it be now, 'tis not to come: if it be not to come, it will be now: if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.' So says Hamlet. This is wisdom beyond common or good sense; it is elemental. And it answers another gloomy Shakespearean character's thesis by showing how to travel the way to dusty death. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
