Port of Spain

Hazel Dorothy Scott was an internationally known, American jazz and classical pianist and singer; she also performed as herself in several films.... She was prominent as a jazz singer throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1950, she became the first woman of color to have her own TV show, The Hazel Scott Show, featuring a variety of entertainment. To evade the political persecution of artists in the McCarthy era, Scott moved to Paris in the late 1950s and performed in France, not returning to the United States until 1967. Born in Port of Spain, Hazel was taken at the age of four by her mother to New York. Recognized early as a musical prodigy, Scott was given scholarships from the age of eight to study at the Juilliard School. She began performing in a jazz band in her teens and was performing on radio at age 16. Hazel Scott was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to Alma Long Scott, a musician. They moved to New York City when Hazel was four. Recognized as a child musical prodigy, the young Scott was awarded scholarships to study classical piano at the Juilliard School from the age of eight.
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Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist. Born in... Port of Spain, Trinidad of African descent, Holder is a Tony-award winning stage director and costume designer. He is known for his height , heavily-accented deep basso voice and "hearty laugh." One of four children, Holder attended The Tranquillity School and secondary school at Queens Royal College in Port-of-Spain. At age seven, he began dancing in his brother's company. In 1952, the choreographer Agnes de Mille saw Holder dance on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. She invited him to New York; he would teach at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance for two years. He was a principal dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York from 1955-1956. In 1955, Holder married dancer Carmen De Lavallade, whom he met when both were in the cast of House of Flowers, a musical by Harold Arlen and Truman Capote . They were the subject of a 2004 film, Carmen & Geoffrey. They live in New York City and have one son, Leo Anthony Lamont.
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Assing "Aki" Aleong is an American character actor and singer who has also been active in songwriting and musical production. He is probably best... known for portraying Senator Hidoshi during the first season of the critically acclaimed series Babylon 5, as well as portraying Mr. Chiang, the aide to Nathan Bates in the weekly series of V: The Series. He also portrayed the character of Colonel Mitamura in Farewell to the King He owned the Gingham Dog fast food restaurant in Hollywood, California circa 1965. He has a listing in the current "Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2008" with "Trade Winds, Trade Winds" appearing in November 1961. The song peaked at #101 in Billboard Magazine on the "Bubbling Under the Hot 100" charts and it remained on the chart for four weeks. According to an interview with Aki on YouTube the song was Number 1 in Los Angeles in 1961. He also is a member of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and is the executive director for Asians in Media. He can be heard as a contestant on the 3rd February 1958 edition of Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life.
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Austin Stoker is an American actor known for his role as Lt. Ethan Bishop, the police officer in charge of the besieged Precinct 9, Division 13, in... John Carpenter's Howard Hawks-inspired, 1976 film, Assault on Precinct 13. This was one of the few heroic starring roles for an African-American actor in an action film of the 1970s outside of the blaxploitation genre. Stoker was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Prior to his role as Lt. Bishop, Stoker appeared in several blaxploitation films, often playing police detectives. Among these films were Abby , The Zebra Killer , and Sheba, Baby , in which he played Pam Grier's love interest. Some of Stoker's other notable acting roles were in the 1973 science fiction film Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the 1974 disaster film Airport 1975, and the 1977 television mini-series Roots. Stoker is known to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans for his role as Dr. Ken Melrose in the 1982 B-movie, Being from Another Planet , in which he appeared with Darwin Joston, his co-star from Assault on Precinct 13.
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Edmundo William Ros OBE was a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular... Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs. Ros was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad. His mother was an Afro-Venezuelan and his father was of Scottish descent. He was the eldest of four children, having two sisters, Ruby and Eleanor, followed by a half-brother, Hugo. His parents separated after Hugo was born, and after various false steps Edmundo was enrolled in a military academy. There he became interested in music and learned to play the euphonium. From 1927-37 his family lived in Caracas, Venezuela. He played in the Venezuelan Military Academy Band as well as being a tympanist in the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra. Later he received a music scholarship from the government, and, from 1937–42, studied harmony, composition and orchestration at the Royal Academy of Music.
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Steven Springer is an American guitarist and songwriter known for his innovative smooth soft touch guitar style. Steven is best known for being a... member of the Trinidad Tripoli Steel Band and for playing with Sir Lancelot Pinard, Arizona-based band Sanctuary, and his current musical project Tropicooljazz. Steven Springer grew up in Port of Spain, Trinidad and attended St. Mary's College. He started a band while in high school, and quickly became a very popular and sought-after guitarist, and was a regular fixture at local dances and parties. He left Trinidad to attend college at the Mayfield College, Sussex, England. After graduation, Steven moved to Phoenix, Arizona and formed a band called Sanctuary, which rose to fame, winning local awards for “Band of The Year” for three consecutive years, as well as “Album of the Year,” during the 1980’s. Steven Springer and Brian Pinard performed as "The Knights of The Holy Trinity" to accompany Brian Pinard's uncle, famous calypso artist Sir Lancelot. They recorded Sir Lancelot's final album, called "Pinaryhymns - Religious Calypso.
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