A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life.

It involves more than just

the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of
these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's
life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience,
and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
Biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life.
One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Works in diverse media, from
literature to film, form the genre known as biography.
An authorized biography is written with the permission, cooperation, and at times, participation
of a subject or a subject's heirs. An autobiography is written by the person himself or herself,
sometimes with the assistance of a collaborator or ghostwriter.
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Selected biographies – show different entries

Thomas Neil Phillips (May 22, 1883 – November 30, 1923) was a Canadian professional ice
hockey left winger. Like other players of his era, Phillips played for several different teams and
leagues. Most notable for his time with the Kenora Thistles, Phillips also played with the Montreal
Hockey Club, the Ottawa Hockey Club, the Toronto Marlboros and the Vancouver Millionaires. Over
the course of his career Phillips participated in six challenges for the Stanley Cup, the championship
trophy of hockey, winning twice: with the Montreal Hockey Club in 1903 and with the Kenora Thistles,
which he captained, in January 1907. Following his playing career, Phillips worked in the lumber
industry until his death in 1923.

One of the best defensive forwards of his era, Phillips was also known for his all-around skill,
particularly his strong shot and endurance, and was considered, alongside Frank McGee, one of the
two best players in all of hockey. His younger brother, Russell, also played for the Thistles and was a
member of the team when they won the Stanley Cup. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in
1945, Phillips was one of the original nine inductees.
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 Did you know... - show different entries

 ... that Italian Renaissance artist Raphael died in 1520 in his palace on the now
demolished Borgo Nuovo in Rome?
 ... that the visual style of African-American artist Henry Speller, who was also an
accomplished blues musician, was described as "blues aesthetic"?
 ... that in Su Shuyang's tragedy depicting the last day of Lao She's life, the celebrated
writer converses with dead characters from his own works before committing suicide?
 ... that Sir Donald Douglas was President of the Royal College of Surgeons of
Edinburgh, and his son Sir Neil Douglas was President of the Royal College of Physicians of
Edinburgh?
 ... that the Jonas Brothers' song "Cool" has several popular culture references in its
lyrics, including Post Malone, Game of Thrones, and 1950s actor James Dean?
 ... that when he graduated in medicine at the age of 24, James Fraser was
already Sir James Fraser?
 ... that Charles Kelman, the inventor of phacoemulsification for cataract surgery, was
also a Broadway producer and a jazz musician with a musical comedy routine?
 ... that in 1720, wealthy merchant-adventurer Sir David Hechstetter directed that his
body be buried without any "pompous ostentation"?
 ... that legal scholar Wang Jiafu gave lectures to China's top leaders, including
President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng?
 ... that Thomas Cheney's biography of LDS Church leader J. Golden Kimball was
withdrawn by Brigham Young University Press for containing explicit language?
 ... that American law professor Harry Bigelow sat on President Harry S.
Truman's National Loyalty Review Board during the Second Red Scare?
 ... that Austrian engineer Ernst Lauda, who worked on preventing the Danube from
flooding, was granted his own coat of arms (depicted)?
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General images
The following are images from various biography-related articles on Wikipedia.
 

James Boswell wrote what many consider to be the first modern biography, The Life of Samuel
Johnson, in 1791.
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Do you have a question about Wikipedia biographical content that you can't find the answer to?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
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Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Biography-
related articles, see WikiProject Biography.
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Selected portrait – show another

 Credit: Allan Warren

Donald Henry Pleasence, OBE (5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English film,
television, and stage actor. His most notable film roles include psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis in
the Halloween series, the villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film You Only Live
Twice, and RAF Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe in The Great Escape.
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On this day – September 11

Births

 1182 - Minamoto no Yoriie, Japanese shogun (d. 1204)

 1522 - Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian naturalist (d. 1605)
 1524 - Pierre de Ronsard, French poet (d. 1585)
 1711 - William Boyce, English composer (d. 1779)
 1816 - Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (d. 1888)
 1917 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (d. 1989)
 1935 - Arvo Pärt, Estonian composer
 1965 - Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria
 1981 - Dylan Klebold, Columbine high school shooter (d. 1999)
Deaths

 1161 - Queen Melisende of Jerusalem (b. 1105)

 1733 - François Couperin, French composer (b. 1668)
 1822 - Fortunat Alojzy Gonzaga Żółkowski, Polish actor (b. 1777)
 1948 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan (b. 1876) (pictured)
 1971 - Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1894)
 1973 - Salvador Allende, President of Chile (b. 1908)
 2001 - John P. O'Neill, former FBI agent, and Director of Security at the World Trade
Center (b. 1952)