"The Gypsies," Mrs. Hersh said, "What culture have the
Gypsies got?"
"No culture?" Adam said. "To hell with them."
"Mr. Speaker," Wexler said, "May I ask you something? Because can you give me the name of ten famous Gypsies?"
(Hancock, 2002: p. 125)
Charlie Chaplin
Rita Hayworth, born Margarita Carmen Cansino in 1918, was the grand-daughter of Antonio Cansino, whose son Eduardo (her father) opened a dancing school in Hollywood in 1926. It was here that she first entered show business. She is best known for her appearance in such films as The Dancing Pirate (1936), The Loves of Carmen (1948), Circus World (1964), and The Rover (1967).
Charlie Chaplin was born in England in 1889, and died in 1977. He was mainly famous as a comic character actor, though he also appeared in such serious classics as Limelight. His mother's descendants were the Romanichal Smiths. He spent as much time as he could in Romani company, and reportedly modeled his "tramp" character on his perceptions of Romani life. His sympathy for the treatment of Romanies in Nazi Germany also led to this playing a Hitler look-alike in The Great Dictator (1940).
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Christina E. Wells
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Revised: 04 Dec 2003 10:00:24 -0600