Cedar Rapids

The U.S. Cellular Center is a multi-purpose arena, located in the downtown area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was financed by the approval of a voter... referendum to allocate special municipal capital improvement bond monies, after several prior bond referendums to build a civic center failed between 1965-1977. The initial construction cost was approximately $7 million for the arena and facilities. The city approved an additional $1 million to build an adjacent multi-level parking facility connected to the center by a skywalk. The center is adjoined by a 17-story Crowne Plaza hotel facility built directly above the arena. The center hosts local sporting events and concerts, most notably the Iowa State High School Girls Volleyball Tournament and the Iowa High School Team Dual Wrestling Championships. It was opened in 1979 as the Five Seasons Center, and hosted the English progressive-rock band Yes as its first official concert event on April 25, 1979. The arena has a basketball capacity of about 7,200 and can seat up to 10,000 for concerts. It served as the primary sports and entertainment venue in Eastern Iowa until the completion of Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City four years later.
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Brucemore, a park-like, 26-acre estate in the heart of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the site of a Queen Anne-style mansion, formal gardens, a... children’s garden, night garden, pond, orchard, and woodland. Built between 1884 and 1886 by Caroline Sinclair, widow of pioneer industrialist T.M. Sinclair, Brucemore has been home to three prominent families who used the estate as a center for culture and the arts. Brucemore, whose name alludes to the Scottish moors of the second owner's ancestral home, is Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site and is preserved by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in co-stewardship with Brucemore, Inc. Under the name of the T.M. Sinclair Mansion, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion has three stories, and contains twenty-one rooms. Notable features of the home are its steeply gabled roof, five chimneys, and several turrets. Brucemore is the story of three wealthy families: industrialists, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, boosters, neighbors, and friends. The men created great fortunes: Thomas Sinclair in meatpacking; George Bruce Douglas in starch processing; and Howard Hall in manufacturing.
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The Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a 6-story brick building located in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The theater is a restored example of... a 1920's movie/vaudeville palace. It was damaged by the flood of June 2008, that submerged most of downtown Cedar Rapids. The Paramount serves as home to the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Cedar Rapids Area Theater Organ Society, and a series of Community Concerts. It is famous for its restored Wurlitzer theater organ, which could be lifted up from below stage level when used. The Paramount is included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Paramount first opened on September 1, 1928, and was at the time called the Capitol Theater. For its first year it presented a full range of comedians, singers, dancers, acrobats, movies, and audience sing-alongs; its "Mighty Wurlitzer" organ was central to much of the entertainment it provided. In 1929 it was purchased by Paramount Pictures, and given its current name. The theater's architectural ideal was palatial, with a "Hall of Mirrors" patterned after that in Versailles and expensive oil paintings, busts, furniture and other treasures.
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The Mother Mosque of America, once known as The Rose of Fraternity Lodge and also known as Moslem Temple, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States, is... the longest standing mosque in North America. Built in 1934, it is the second oldest after the 1929 mosque built in tiny Ross, North Dakota, however that mosque was torn down in the 1970s and later rebuilt in 2005, leaving the Mother Mosque as the oldest standing. It is also slightly younger than the Al-Rashid Mosque in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction was completed February 15, 1934, and the small structure served as a place of worship for Muslims for nearly 40 years. When a larger local mosque, the “Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids”, was built in 1971, the building was sold. Successive owners over the next 20 years allowed it to fall into disrepair. In 1991 the Islamic Council of Iowa purchased the building, refurbished it and restored its status as a Muslim cultural center. The effort was mainly organized by the local Muslim community led by Imam Taha Tawil and Dr. Thomas B. Irving.
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Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, and comedian, known for his... portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Kutcher currently co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt. Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the son of Diane , a Procter & Gamble employee, and Larry M. Kutcher, a factory worker. His father is of Bohemian descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry. Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family, with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children.
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Theresa Lee "Terry" Farrell is an American actress and former fashion model. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the television series... Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Jadzia Dax and Becker as Regina Kostas. Farrell is the daughter of Kay Carol Christine Bendickson and Edwin Francis Farrell, Jr. Later, her mother married David W. Grussendorf, who adopted Terry and her sister, Christine. Before becoming a model, she played a Christmas elf at a mall in Cedar Rapids. In 1978, she left her hometown for a summer in Mexico City as a foreign exchange student. She has since been fond of big cities, so in her junior year of high school, the nearly six feet tall Farrell submitted her image to the Elite modeling agency in New York City. Shortly after, at the age of 16, she was summoned to New York City and, within two days of arriving, had an exclusive contract with Mademoiselle. After 18 months of modeling, she studied acting with Kate McGregor Stewart while still modeling on the side. Her first major roles were in the short-lived 1983 television series Paper Dolls playing a model and in the feature film Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield.
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Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office... Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries Band of Brothers. In 2006, he starred as FBI negotiator Matt Flannery in the Fox series Standoff, co-starring Rosemarie DeWitt, and he was an ad spokesman for Sprint Nextel. In 2009 he portrayed flight engineer Maddux Donner in the series Defying Gravity, which was cancelled after a single season. Livingston was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Linda, a Lutheran pastor, and Kurt Livingston, an aerospace engineer. His younger brother John, is also an actor; sister Jennifer Livingston is a TV news personality at WKBT in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Iowa and attended Yale University, where he received B.A. degrees in Theater and English. Livingston relocated to Chicago and became involved in the local theater scene. Livingston's first film role was in 1992, in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk.
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Robert Cletus "Bobby" Driscoll was an American child actor known for a large body of cinema and TV performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in... some of The Walt Disney Company's most popular live-action pictures of that period, such as Song of the South , So Dear to My Heart , and Treasure Island . He served as animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan . In 1950, he received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performance in feature films. In the mid-1950s, Driscoll's career began to decline, and he turned primarily to guest appearances on anthology TV series. He became addicted to narcotics and was sentenced to prison for drug use. After his release he focused his attention on the avant-garde art scene. In ill health from his drug use, and his funds completely depleted, he died in March 1968. Born Robert Cletus Driscoll in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Driscoll was the only child of Cletus Driscoll, an insulation salesman, and Isabelle Kratz Driscoll, a former schoolteacher. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Des Moines, where they stayed until early 1943.
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Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress, singer-songwriter and former Miss World. Before starting her acting career, she worked as a model and gained... fame after winning the Miss World title in 2000. She is often referred to by the nickname "Piggy Chops", which was given to her by co-stars on the set of the film Bluffmaster! During her career, Chopra has received four Filmfare Awards, among seven nominations and one National Film Award for Best Actress. Chopra made her acting debut with the 2002 Tamil film Thamizhan. The following year, she made her Bollywood film debut with The Hero: Love Story of a Spy and followed it with the hit Andaaz, for which she won a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. In 2004, she became the second woman to win the Filmfare Best Villain Award, which she received for her critically acclaimed performance in Aitraaz. She subsequently appeared in successful films like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi , Krrish and Don: The Chase Begins Again . 2008 marked the beginning of a new phase in Chopra's career.
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Donald John DeFore was an American film, radio and television actor. He was born in 1913 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Joseph Ervin DeFore , a railroad... engineer, and Albina Sylvia Nezerka . DeFore's film appearances include: The Male Animal , The Human Comedy , A Guy Named Joe , Thirty Seconds over Tokyo , The Affairs of Susan , You Came Along , It Happened on 5th Avenue , Ramrod , Romance on the High Seas , My Friend Irma , Too Late for Tears , Dark City , Southside 1-1000 , The Guy Who Came Back , A Girl in Every Port , Jumping Jacks , Battle Hymn , A Time to Love and a Time to Die , and The Facts of Life . In 1946 exhibitors voted him the fourth-most promising "star of tomorrow". DeFore is best known for his television work. Beginning in 1952, DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny" on the comedy series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
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Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model, and comedian, known for his... portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. He also created, produced and hosted Punk'd, and played lead roles in the Hollywood films Dude, Where's My Car?, Just Married, The Butterfly Effect, The Guardian, and What Happens in Vegas. He is also the producer and co-creator of the supernatural TV show Room 401 and the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek. Kutcher currently co-stars in the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men as the character Walden Schmidt. Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He is the son of Diane , a Procter & Gamble employee, and Larry M. Kutcher, a factory worker. His father is of Bohemian descent and his mother is of Irish, German, and Bohemian ancestry. Kutcher was raised in a conservative Roman Catholic family, with an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who had a heart transplant when the brothers were young children.
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Theresa Lee "Terry" Farrell is an American actress and former fashion model. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the television series... Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Jadzia Dax and Becker as Regina Kostas. Farrell is the daughter of Kay Carol Christine Bendickson and Edwin Francis Farrell, Jr. Later, her mother married David W. Grussendorf, who adopted Terry and her sister, Christine. Before becoming a model, she played a Christmas elf at a mall in Cedar Rapids. In 1978, she left her hometown for a summer in Mexico City as a foreign exchange student. She has since been fond of big cities, so in her junior year of high school, the nearly six feet tall Farrell submitted her image to the Elite modeling agency in New York City. Shortly after, at the age of 16, she was summoned to New York City and, within two days of arriving, had an exclusive contract with Mademoiselle. After 18 months of modeling, she studied acting with Kate McGregor Stewart while still modeling on the side. Her first major roles were in the short-lived 1983 television series Paper Dolls playing a model and in the feature film Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield.
more

Ronald Joseph "Ron" Livingston is an American film and television actor. His roles include a disaffected corporate employee in the film Office... Space, a sardonic writer in a short-term relationship with Carrie Bradshaw in the TV show Sex and the City, and Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries Band of Brothers. In 2006, he starred as FBI negotiator Matt Flannery in the Fox series Standoff, co-starring Rosemarie DeWitt, and he was an ad spokesman for Sprint Nextel. In 2009 he portrayed flight engineer Maddux Donner in the series Defying Gravity, which was cancelled after a single season. Livingston was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Linda, a Lutheran pastor, and Kurt Livingston, an aerospace engineer. His younger brother John, is also an actor; sister Jennifer Livingston is a TV news personality at WKBT in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He graduated from Marion High School in Marion, Iowa and attended Yale University, where he received B.A. degrees in Theater and English. Livingston relocated to Chicago and became involved in the local theater scene. Livingston's first film role was in 1992, in Dolly Parton's Straight Talk.
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Robert Cletus "Bobby" Driscoll was an American child actor known for a large body of cinema and TV performances from 1943 to 1960. He starred in... some of The Walt Disney Company's most popular live-action pictures of that period, such as Song of the South , So Dear to My Heart , and Treasure Island . He served as animation model and provided the voice for the title role in Peter Pan . In 1950, he received an Academy Juvenile Award for outstanding performance in feature films. In the mid-1950s, Driscoll's career began to decline, and he turned primarily to guest appearances on anthology TV series. He became addicted to narcotics and was sentenced to prison for drug use. After his release he focused his attention on the avant-garde art scene. In ill health from his drug use, and his funds completely depleted, he died in March 1968. Born Robert Cletus Driscoll in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Driscoll was the only child of Cletus Driscoll, an insulation salesman, and Isabelle Kratz Driscoll, a former schoolteacher. Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Des Moines, where they stayed until early 1943.
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Donald John DeFore was an American film, radio and television actor. He was born in 1913 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Joseph Ervin DeFore , a railroad... engineer, and Albina Sylvia Nezerka . DeFore's film appearances include: The Male Animal , The Human Comedy , A Guy Named Joe , Thirty Seconds over Tokyo , The Affairs of Susan , You Came Along , It Happened on 5th Avenue , Ramrod , Romance on the High Seas , My Friend Irma , Too Late for Tears , Dark City , Southside 1-1000 , The Guy Who Came Back , A Girl in Every Port , Jumping Jacks , Battle Hymn , A Time to Love and a Time to Die , and The Facts of Life . In 1946 exhibitors voted him the fourth-most promising "star of tomorrow". DeFore is best known for his television work. Beginning in 1952, DeFore had a recurring role as the Nelsons' friendly neighbor "Thorny" on the comedy series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
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Riley Smith is an American film and television actor and singer for the band The Life of Riley. Smith's parents are Russ and Roxanne Smith. He was... born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and raised in Marion, Iowa on his parents’ horse ranch. He became an accomplished rider, competing in a horse show for the first time when he was 9 years old. When he was 15, he placed 4th in 3-Year-Old Mares division at the American Quarter Horse Youth World Championship, and at 16 won the American Quarter Horse Youth World Championship. When he was 17, he became president of the 50,000-member youth association, becoming he youngest person to serve as corresponding vice president of American Quarter Horse Youth Association. He graduated from Alburnett Junior-Senior High School in 1997, and his original intention was to earn a college degree to cover his horse racing, but he was "discovered" at the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids by a local talent scout and flew to New York City to compete at the International Modeling and Talent Association Convention. There he was signed to a Tommy Hilfiger modeling campaign.
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