Haiku: Lead and Cotton - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2024

Evil is heavy as lead

Good is light as cotton

We humans live our free will of weights and measures!

Ronald Colman - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is Ronald Colman, a film actor born in England and based in the United States.

Colman won the Oscar for best actor (1948) for his performance in the film: “A Double Life” (1947), playing “Anthony John”, a stage actor who goes mad while staging a production of William Shakespeare’s (1564-1616) tragedy - “Othello” (1603), to the point where he can no longer distinguish what is real from what is drama. This film also earned the actor a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama.

Ronald Colman has two stars on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, at 1623 Vine Street, in the TV category, and at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Motion Picture category.

Ronald Colman, born February 9, 1891, England, United Kingdom, died May 19, 1958, Los Angeles, California, United States, aged 67.

Ronald Colman was married twice, first to Brazilian actress Thelma Raye, née Thelma Victoria Maud Bell-Morton (1890-1966) from 1920 to 1934 and to British actress Benita Hume (1907-1967) from 1938 to 1958. Ronald and Benita had one daughter, American writer Juliet Benita Colman (1944-), who wrote the biography of her father: “Ronald Colman, a very private person : a biography” (1975).

Haiku: Fall Leaves - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2024

Fall hides the flower

The breeze dissipates the heat

And the ground is now covered in a carpet of still-living leaves.

Jackie Chan - ©Theda Bara

The name I bring to you in this post is Jackie Chan, who left China and became famous in Hollywood as an actor, producer, screenwriter, choreographer, film director, singer, martial arts specialist, and also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Chan is often compared to martial arts film actor, director and producer Lee Jun-fan, known worldwide as Bruce Lee (1940-1973), who was Chinese-American.

The actor, despite never having competed for an Oscar, received three MTV Movie Awards: in 1995, for lifetime achievement; in 1999 for Best Scene, for: “Rush Hour” and in 2002 for Best Fight, for: “Rush Hour 2”, Character: “Inspector Lee”; he also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Actor in an Animated Program, in 2002, for: “The Adventures of Jackie Chan”.

Jackie Chan has participated in more than 100 films throughout his career, having in the first 20 films secondary roles as a supporting actor, extra and even stunt double.

In 2010, he played “Mr. Han”, in “The Karate Kid”, a remake produced by actor and friend Willard Carroll Smith II - Will Smith (1968-), in which his son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (1998-) plays the protagonist “Dre Parker”. “The Karate Kid 2” is scheduled for release in May 2025. 

Jackie Chan has a star on the Los Angeles Walk of Fame, located at Byken 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, in the motion picture category. He also has a star on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong and is considered by many to be the greatest Asian actor. 

Jackie Chan, born Chan Kong-sang on April 7, 1954, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong, a former British colony, now an autonomous territory in southeastern China, is now 70 years old.

Jackie Chan has been married to former Taiwanese actress Joan Lin Feng-jiao (1953-) since 1982. The couple has one son, American-born Chinese actor and singer Jaycee Chan Joming (1982-). He sings and performs in both Mandarin and Cantonese, and in 2004 released his first Mandarin CD album in Hong Kong. In 2015, Jaycee was arrested for possession of marijuana and served 6 months in prison. Jackie Chan has made no secret of his discontent with his son. He has not visited him in prison and has even made controversial statements. Speaking of controversy, Jackie Chan has an illegitimate daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam (1999-), from an extramarital affair he had with Miss Asia 1990, Elaine Ng Yi-lei, sometimes credited as Elaine Wu (1972-). She announced that she was pregnant in 1999, after starring in a film by Chan, revealing her affair with the actor, who, after public speculation, admitted that he had “made a mistake that many men in the world make”.

Haiku: Falls - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2024

The leaf falls...

The daughter falls...

Hold the girl, mother nature!