In June of 1939, Harry James (left) hired a young singer named Frank Sinatra 
(right) on a one year contract of $75 a week. He made his first appearance with 
the band on June 30, 1939. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his
first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July, 1939.

Lena Horne was a singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer. Horne began
her career at the age of sixteen when she joined the chorus of the Cotton Club
nightclub before moving to Hollywood, where she obtained small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Story Weather,
both 1943 musicals. Lena Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood during the “Red Scare” day’s because of her political views. She then 
returned to her roots as a performer in nightclubs and on television, while
releasing well-received record albums.

Yearbook photo

Kathy Bates is a actress and director who, after several small roles in film
and television, rose to prominence with her performance in Misery (1990),
for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden
Globe. She followed this with major roles in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
and Dolores Claiborne (1995), before playing a featured role as Margaret
“Molly” Brown in Titanic (1997). During this time, she began her directing
career, primarily in television.

Bates received a Tony Award nomination for her 1983 performance in the
Broadway play ‘night, Mother. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award for her
performance in Primary Colors (1998), along with an Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actress for About Schmidt (2002). Her television work
has resulted in eight Emmy Award nominations.

Kathy Bates in Misery

Kathy as seen in Titanic

Kathy Bates in a scene from About Schmidt

Frances Louise McDormand  won the Academy Award for Best Actress in
1996 for her role as police chief Marge Gunderson in the Joel and Ethan
Coen film Fargo. She won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her
performance this year in Good People. McDormand was nominated for the
Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress three times for her role in 
Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and the film North
Country (2005). She has also been nominated for four Golden Globes,
three BAFTA Awards, and an Emmy Award. Frances McDormand has
been married to director Joel Coen since 1984. 

McDormand in Blood Simple (1984), the directorial debut of Joel and
Ethan Coen

Frances in Fargo

Meryl Streep has worked in theatre, television and film. She is widely regarded
as one of the most talented and respected actresses of the modern era. Streep
made her professional debut on stage in 1971’s The Playboy of Seville. Her
screen debut came in 1977 with the television movie The Deadliest Season. She
made her film debut with Julie. Successful roles soon followed such as The Deer
Hunter in 1978, which gave Meryl her first Oscar nomination and Kramer vs.Kramer
in 1979  which won her and Oscar. Streep later won an Academy Award for Best
Actress for her performance in Sophie’s Choice (1982). Meryl Streep has received
a total of 25 Golden Globe nominations, winning seven, more nominations than any
other actor in the history of the award. In 2004,she was awarded the American Film Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meryl Streep with co-star Robert DeNiro in The Deer Hunter

2009