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Negro Ensemble Company
The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) is a New York City-based theater company and workshop established in 1967 by producer-actor Robert Hooks, playwright Douglas Turner Ward, and theater manager Gerald S. Krone, with funding from the Ford Foundation. The company's focus on original works with themes based in the black experience with an international perspective created a canon of theatrical works and an audience for writers who came later, such as August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and others. Beginnings The Negro Ensemble Company was created in 1964 when Hooks created a tuition-free acting workshop for urban youth which he named the Group Theatre Workshop (GTW), in tribute to Harold Clurman's The Group Theatre. The group became a refuge for young minority actors, with a focus on black theatre. He and his associate Barbara Ann Teer produced in a one-night showcase for friends and family of the actors. The plays chosen were Gwendolyn Brooks's '' We Real Cool'' and Douglas Turn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Hooks
Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks; April 18, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and activist. Along with Douglas Turner Ward and Gerald S. Krone, he founded The Negro Ensemble Company. The Negro Ensemble Company is credited with the launch of the careers of many major black artists of all disciplines, while creating a body of performance literature over the last thirty years, providing the backbone of African-American theatrical classics. Additionally, Hooks is the sole founder of two significant black theatre companies: the D.C. Black Repertory Company, and New York's Group Theatre Workshop. Biography Early life The youngest of five children, Hooks was born in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., to Mae Bertha (née Ward), a seamstress, and Edward Hooks, who had moved from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, with their four other children, Bernice, Caroleigh, Charles Edward "Charlie", and James Walter "Jimmy". Named Bobby Dean Hooks at birth, Robert was their first child born in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Glover
Danny Glover ( ; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, producer, and political activist. Over his career he has received List of awards and nominations received by Danny Glover, numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the NAACP's NAACP Image Award – President's Award, President's Award, as well as nominations for five Emmy Awards and four Grammy Awards. Glover made his film acting debut in ''Escape from Alcatraz (film), Escape from Alcatraz'' in 1979. He rose to fame in the late 1980s for playing Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon (franchise), Lethal Weapon'' film series. Glover's other notable films include ''Places in the Heart'' (1984), ''The Color Purple (1985 film), The Color Purple'' (1985), ''Witness (1985 film), Witness'' (1985), ''To Sleep with Anger'' (1990), ''Grand Canyon (1991 film), Grand Canyon'' (1991), ''Bopha!'' (1993), ''Angels in the Outfield (1994 film), Angels in the O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron O'Neal
Ron O'Neal (September 1, 1937 – January 14, 2004) was an American actor, director and screenwriter, who rose to fame in his role as Youngblood Priest, a New York City cocaine dealer, in the blaxploitation film '' Super Fly'' (1972) and its sequel '' Super Fly T.N.T.'' (1973). O'Neal was also a director and writer for the sequel, and for the film ''Up Against the Wall''. Early life Ron O'Neal grew up in a working-class neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, to parents Eunice and Ernest O'Neal, a former jazz musician who earned his living as a factory worker. Ernest died when Ron was 16 years old. Six months later his brother, who worked as a truck driver, was killed in an accident. Following these tragedies his mother found a job in a hospital to sustain the family. Ron graduated from Glenville High School and attended Ohio State University, where he became interested in acting after seeing the play '' Finian's Rainbow''. He joined the Karamu House company in Cleveland, Ohio, work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denise Nicholas
Denise Donna Nicholas (born July 12, 1944) is an American actress. Nicholas played high-school guidance counselor Liz McIntyre on the ABC comedy-drama series ''Room 222'' and Councilwoman Harriet DeLong on the NBC/ CBS drama series '' In the Heat of the Night''. Biography Early life and education Nicholas was born to Louise and Otto Nicholas in Detroit, where she spent her early years. With the remarriage of her mother to Robert Burgen, she moved to Milan, Michigan, a small town south of Ann Arbor. At the age of 16, Nicholas appeared on the August 25, 1960, cover of ''Jet'' magazine as a future school teacher prospect at the National High School Institute at Northwestern University. She graduated from Milan High School in 1961. Nicholas is the middle child of three, with an older brother, Otto, and a younger sister, Michele, who was murdered in 1980. Nicholas entered the University of Michigan as a Pre-Law student. Nicholas then switched her major to Latin-American politics, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garrett Morris
Garrett Isaac Morris (born February 1, 1937) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was part of the original cast and was the first black cast member of the sketch comedy program ''Saturday Night Live'', appearing from 1975 to 1980. He also played Jimmy on '' The Jeffersons'' (1983–1984). Morris had one of the starring roles, as Junior "Uncle Junior" King, on the sitcom '' The Jamie Foxx Show'', which aired from 1996 to 2001. Morris also had a regular role as Earl Washington on the CBS sitcom '' 2 Broke Girls'', from 2011 to 2017. He is also known for his role in the sitcom '' Martin'' as Stan Winters, from 1992 to 1995, until he suffered an injury. Also, he made two guest appearances on ''The Wayans Bros.'' in season one, episode one as himself and again on episode ten as the brothers' uncle Leon (1995). He played a concerned teacher in the film '' Cooley High'' (1975), Slide in '' Car Wash'' (1976), and Carl in '' The Census Taker'' (1984). In 2024, Morris was ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo (born 18 November 1952) is an English-American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as an NAACP Image Award, a Satellite Award, and nominations for a Drama Desk Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Tony Award, two Critics' Choice Television Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He moved with his mother to San Francisco when he was 16, after they had left London and lived in Canada for a few years. Here he completed his education and entered acting. Lindo has played prominent roles in four Spike Lee films: West Indian Archie in ''Malcolm X'' (1992), Woody Carmichael in '' Crooklyn'' (1994), Rodney Little in '' Clockers'' (1995), and Paul in '' Da 5 Bloods'' (2020). He was praised for his performance in ''Da 5 Bloods'' as a Vietnam War veteran, winning the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor. Lindo also played Bo Catlett in ''Get Shorty'' (1995), Arthur Rose in ''The Cider H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleavon Little
Cleavon Jake Little (June 1, 1939 – October 22, 1992) was an American stage, film and television actor. He began his career in the late 1960s on the stage. In 1970, he starred in the Broadway production of '' Purlie'', for which he earned both a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award. His first leading television role was that of the irreverent Dr. Jerry Noland on the ABC sitcom '' Temperatures Rising'' (1972–1974). While starring in the sitcom, Little appeared in what has become his signature performance, portraying Sheriff Bart in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy film '' Blazing Saddles''. In the 1980s, Little continued to appear in stage productions, films, and in guest spots on television series. In 1989, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his appearance on the NBC sitcom '' Dear John''. He later starred on the Fox sitcom '' True Colors'' (1991–1992). Early life Little was the brother of singer DeEtta Little West, best known for her performance (with Nelson Pigford) of the vocal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene Lee (actor)
Eugene Lee (born July 16, 1953) is an American actor and playwright. He has appeared in work in Asia and in the United States. He has appeared in guest roles in numerous TV shows such as ''The White Shadow (TV series), The White Shadow'', ''Quantum Leap (1989 TV series), Quantum Leap'', ''NYPD Blue'' and ''Touched by an Angel''. His stage work includes ''A Soldier's Play'' with Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson with the Negro Ensemble Company, a Broadway appearance in August Wilson, August Wilson's ''Gem of the Ocean'', and as a company member for the Kennedy Center, Kennedy Center's 10-play cycle tribute to Wilson. As a playwright, his works include ''East Texas Hot Links'', ''Fear Itself'', ''Somebody Called: A Tale of Two Preachers'', ''Killingsworth'', and ''The Rest of Me''. Filmography Film Television Theater (partial list) References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Eugene 1953 births Living people People from North Brunswick, New Jersey Male act ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel L
Samuel L. may refer to: * Samuel L. Jackson (born 1948), American actor * Samuel L. Clemens aka Mark Twain (1835 – 1910), American author * Samuel L. Devine (1915 – 1997), American politician * Samuel L. Gravely Jr. (1922 – 2004) African-American naval officer * Samuel L. Greitzer (1905 – 1988), American mathematician * Samuel L. Lewis (1896 – 1971) American mystic and horticulturalist * Samuel L. Mitchill (1764–1831) American physician, naturalist, and politician * Samuel L. Popkin (born 1942), American political scientist * Samuel L. Southard (1787 – 1842), American statesman {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Hooks
Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable for his roles in '' Aaron Loves Angela'' and '' Sounder'', but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's '' The White Shadow''. Early life and acting career Kevin Hooks was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Yvonne, a state employee, and Robert Hooks, a director and actor who starred in many films in the 1970s. Kevin's nickname among his friends is "King Royal". Hooks lived in Southwest, Washington, D.C. in the late-1970s. He attended Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland. When he was still 10, Kevin starred in the acclaimed ''J.T.'', a 1969 episode of the ''CBS Children's Hour'' about a sensitive Harlem youth who befriends a sick cat. Written by Jane Wagner, it was a Peabody Award winner. Hooks appeared in the hit 1972 movie '' Sounder'' as the pre-teen elder son of Paul Winfield's and Cicely Tyson's characters, providing the point of view of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series ''Amen'' (1986–1991), and B. P. Richfield on the ABC series ''Dinosaurs''. Hemsley also played Judge Carl Robertson on the NBC series ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''. For his work on ''The Jeffersons'', Hemsley was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. Hemsley also won an NAACP Image Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series or Special ("The Jeffersons") in 1982. Biography Early life, education and service Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who worked in a lamp factory. Hemsley did not meet his father until he was 14. Hemsley graduated from Barrat Middle School. For high school, Hemsley attended Central High School for ninth gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Harris
Julius W. Harris (August 17, 1923 – October 17, 2004) was an American actor who appeared in more than 70 movies and numerous television series in a career that spanned four decades. Harris is best known for his roles in 1970s films such as ''Live and Let Die (film), Live and Let Die'' and the blaxploitation films ''Super Fly (1972 film), Super Fly'', ''Black Caesar (film), Black Caesar'' and ''Hell Up in Harlem''. Early life and career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a father who was a musician and a mother who had been employed by the Cotton Club in New York City as a dancer, Harris worked as a Nursing, nurse, and a bouncer (doorman), bouncer in New York City jazz clubs. Before he began his acting career, Harris served as a Combat medic, medic in the United States Army, U.S. Army during World War II. After hanging out with many struggling actors, he took a dare and auditioned for his first role and was cast as the father in ''Nothing But a Man'', a critically acclaimed 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
