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Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis (born Raiford Chatman Davis; December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, Film director, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He received numerous accolades including an Emmy, a Grammy and a Writers Guild of America Award as well as nominations for four additional Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and Tony Award. Davis was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1994 and received the National Medal of Arts in 1995, Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.Lifetime Honors – National Medal of Arts
Davis started his career in theatre acting with the Rose McClendon, Ross McClendon Players in the 1940s. He made his Broadway (theatre), Broadway debut acting in the post-World War II play ''Jeb (play ...
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March On Washington For Jobs And Freedom
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. At the march, several popular singers, including Mahalia Jackson and Marian Anderson, performed and many of the movement's leaders gave speeches. The most notable speech came from the final speaker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, as he delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in which he called for an end to legalized racism and racial segregation. The march was organized by Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, who built an alliance of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations that came together under the banner of "jobs and freedom." Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 to 300,000, but the most widely cited estimate is 250,000 people. O ...
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National Medal Of Arts
The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and Patronage, patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons by the United States government. Nominations are submitted to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory committee of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), who then submits its recommendations to the White House for the President of the United States to award. The medal was designed for the NEA by sculptor Robert Graham (sculptor), Robert Graham. Laureates In 1983, prior to the official establishment of the National Medal of Arts, through the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, President Ronald Reagan awarded a medal to artists and arts patrons. Recipients of the National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts was first awarded in 1985. The ceremony was not held in 2021 or 2022 due to the COVID-19 pa ...
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Gordon's War
''Gordon's War'' is a 1973 action film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis. It stars Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson. ''Gordon's War'' was made at the height of blaxploitation films popularity from the early 1970s featuring some of the racial stereotypes of the genre. Plot A Vietnam veteran returns home to find drug dealers and addicts now rule his old neighborhood, and that even his own wife has fallen victim to drugs. Together with three of his buddies from Vietnam, he fights back. Using tactics borrowed from war that involve them not using the cops, they find that the culprit to all of the trouble is a couple of white salesmen. Cast * Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson * Carl Lee as Bee Bishop * David Downing as Otis Russell * Tony King as Roy Green * Gilbert Lewis as Harry "Spanish Harry" Martinez * Carl Gordon as Luther "The Pimp" * Nathan Heard as "Big Pink" * Grace Jones as Mary * Jackie Page as Bedroom Girl * Chuck Bergans ...
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Black Girl (1972 Film)
''Black Girl'' is an American family drama film with a screenplay by J.E. Franklin, based on her 1969 play, and directed by Ossie Davis. The film explores issues and experiences of black womanhood in the 1970s, including how black women were depicted and common stereotypes of the period. According to Melvin Donalson in ''Black Directors in Hollywood'', "''Black Girl'' is a film that explores the intricate and sometimes painful connections between mothers and daughters." Plot Billie Jean, the youngest of three half-sisters, lives with her mother Mama Rosie and grandmother M'Dear. She desperately wishes to avoid the fate of her two sisters Norma Faye and Ruth Ann, neither of whom finished high school and are now stuck married with kids. Billie Jean dreams of becoming a successful dancer, but her mother and sisters belittle her attempts to improve herself. Mama Rosie compares her daughters unfavorably with the more ambitious Netta, a young lady from the neighborhood. When Netta com ...
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Cotton Comes To Harlem
''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the blaxploitation genre, is based on Chester Himes' novel of the same name. The opening theme, "Ain't Now But It's Gonna Be", was written by Ossie Davis and performed by Melba Moore. The film was one of the many black films that appeared in the 1970s and became overnight hits. It was followed two years later by the sequel '' Come Back, Charleston Blue'' (1972). Plot Deke "Reverend" O'Malley, a con man, is selling shares at a Harlem rally, for the purchase of a Back-to-Africa movement ship to be called ''The Black Beauty''. During the rally, several masked gunmen jump out of a meat truck and steal $87,000 in donated cash from the back of an armored car. Two Harlem detectives, "Gravedigger" Jones and "Coffin Ed" Johnson, chase the car, and a bale ...
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Purlie
''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play '' Purlie Victorious''. Plot ''Purlie'' is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still were in effect in the American South. Its focus is on the dynamic traveling preacher Purlie Victorious Judson, who returns to his small Georgia town hoping to save Big Bethel, the community's church, and emancipate the cotton pickers who work on oppressive Ol' Cap'n Cotchipee's plantation. With the assistance of Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins, Purlie hopes to pry loose from Cotchipee an inheritance due his long-lost cousin and use the money to achieve his goals. Also playing a part in Purlie's plans is Cotchipee's son Charlie, who ultimately proves to be far more fair-minded than his Simon Legree–like father and who saves the church from destruction with an act of defiance that has dire consequences for the tyrannical Cap'n. Production no ...
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Gone Are The Days!
Gone may refer to: Grammar * Gone, the past participle of go (verb) ** Have gone or have been, contrasting verb forms in some contexts Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Gone'', a 2002 a thriller written, directed by and starring Tim Chey * ''Gone'', a 2004 film, directed by Paul Zoltan * ''Gone'', a 2006 American short starring Amanda Noret * ''Gone'' (2007 film), a British/Australian thriller * ''Gone'', a 2007 American short starring Barbara Tarbuck * ''Gone'', a 2007 Canadian short starring Cory Monteith * ''Gone'', a 2009 American short starring Rafael Morais * ''Gone'', a 2011 TV movie featuring Molly Parker * ''Gone'' (2012 film), an American thriller starring Amanda Seyfried * ''Gone'' (2021 film), a Nigerian thriller Literature * ''Gone'' (Hayder novel), written by Mo Hayder & winner of the 2012 Edgar Award * ''Gone'' (Kellerman novel), a 2006 Alex Delaware novel by Jonathan Kellerman * ''Gone'' (novel series), a series of young-adult novels by Michael G ...
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Purlie Victorious
''Purlie Victorious (A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch)'' is a three-act comedic stage play written by American actor Ossie Davis. It tells the fictional story of Reverend Purlie Victorious Judson, a dynamic traveling preacher returning to rural Georgia to save his small hometown church. The play—starring Davis himself in the title role—premiered on Broadway in 1961 and ran for 261 performances. The play was revived on Broadway in 2023 at the Music Box Theatre directed by Kenny Leon, its first major New York production since the original production closed in 1962. Synopsis ''The 2023 revival performs the show without intermission.'' Act I Purlie Victorious Judson returns to his small hometown in Georgia, with Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins and a plan to win back his family inheritance from Ol’ Cap’n Cotchipee, the plantation owner. Purlie’s dream is to buy back Big Bethel, the community’s church, so that he can preach freedom to the cotton pickers. Purl ...
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Jamaica (musical)
''Jamaica'' is a musical with a book by Yip Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Harold Arlen. It is set on a small island off the coast of Jamaica, and tells about a simple island community fighting to avoid being overrun by American commercialism. Arlen's music parodies the popular form of Calypso, which was in vogue in the 1950s, largely as a result of the popularity of Harry Belafonte, for whom the musical originally was written. Belafonte withdrew from the production due to illness, and the musical was tailored around the talents of Lena Horne. Harburg was blacklisted in Hollywood at the time of the writing of the musical,Lorenz, Kathleen Phillis"Spotlight on E.Y. "Yip" Harburg". 42ndstmoon.com and the satire is unusually pointed. Many of the topics raised in the songs, including evolution, nuclear energy, and consumerism, remain topical today. Productions The musical opened in Philadelphia. Later, it moved to Broadway, opening at the Imperial Theatr ...
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Tony Award For Best Featured Actor In A Musical
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality featured roles in a musical play, whether a new production or a revival. The awards are named after Perry, an American actress who died in 1946. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." The award was originally called the Tony Award for Best Performance in a Musical. It was first presented to David Wayne at the 1st Tony Awards for his portrayal of Og in '' Finian's Rainbow''. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". Following the first ceremony, this category wa ...
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Jeb (play)
''Jeb'' was a play by Robert Ardrey that opened on Broadway in February 1946 tackling the issue of race in post-World War II America. The play deals with a disabled black veteran who returns to his home in the rural South after serving overseas. Despite excellent reviews and an extremely positive critical reception, the play closed after a very short run, leading several commentators to assert that it was ahead of its time.Kissel, Howard. ''David Merrick, the Abominable Showman: The Unauthorized Biography'' 1993. New York: Applause Books. p. 71. Synopsis The playwright, Robert Ardrey, gave the following synopsis of ''Jeb'': The story had been haunting me. It concerned a black soldier whom I named Jeb, who returned from the Pacific war with an aluminum leg. The loss of the leg disturbed him not at all, for to his pride he had acquired a skill in the army: he could run an adding machine. And the story takes place when he returns to his family, to his girl, and to the small Southern ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ...
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