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Photo of Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand

Writer, Actor, Additional Credits
Born February 2, 1905Died March 6, 1982 (77 years)
Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; February 2 [O.S. January 20], 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand, was a Russian-born American writer and philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

Rand advocated reason as the only means of acquiring knowledge; she rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism and rejected altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and opposed collectivism, statism, and anarchism. Instead, she supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including private property rights. Although Rand opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, she is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States. In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and classical liberals.

Rand's fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics. Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death, academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected her philosophy because of her polemical approach and lack of methodological rigor. Her writings have politically influenced some libertarians and conservatives. The Objectivist movement attempts to spread her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Ayn Rand, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

  • Atlas Shrugged: Part I
  • The Fountainhead
  • Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike
  • Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?
  • All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace
  • Love Letters
  • We the Living
  • Addio Kira!
  • A Coisa Mais Simples do Mundo

Ayn Rand Filmography

2014
2012
2011
1949
The Fountainhead · as Screenplay
1945
Love Letters · as Screenplay
1945
1942
Addio Kira! · as Novel
1942
We the Living · as Novel

2022
The Anarchists (TV Series) · as Self
2012
2011
Ayn Rand: In Her Own Words · as Self (archive Footage)
2007
1996
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life · as Self - Testifies Before Huac
1996
Red Hollywood · as Self (archive Footage)
1967
The Phil Donahue Show (TV Series) · as Self
1962
The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (TV Series) · as Self - Guest
1962
The Merv Griffin Show (TV Series) · as Self
1957
The Mike Wallace Interview (TV Series) · as Self - Novelist

2017
1989
Gawaahi · as Original Story
1966
At the Theater Tonight (TV Series) · as Play
1955
ITV Play of the Week (TV Series) · as By
1950
The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Play
1941
The Night of January 16th · as Theatre Play

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