African American Actor

Nov 22 2012

She found a way to make it her own

When Dawnn Lewis saw the play “Intimate Apparel” a few years ago, she put it on her list of to-do productions. But when she was asked to read for a part in the play now on stage at the Pasadena Playhouse through Dec. 6, it was not quite what she envisioned.

“I always imagined myself playing Esther,” said Lewis of the turn-of-century New York drama. But instead of the quiet seamstress looking to find herself a mate, Lewis was asked to try on the role of Mrs. Dickinson for size, and she has found a way to make the part her own.

Sep 11 2012

Died a week ago from complications of a heart attack

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Friends, relatives and some Hollywood heavyweights turned out today for an invitation-only memorial service for Michael Clarke Duncan, the seemingly larger-than-life actor who died a week ago from complications of a heart attack.

Duncan, 54, died Sept. 3 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since his July 13 heart attack.

Sep 6 2012

Hollywood loses its gentle giant

Actor Michael Clarke Duncan, best known for his Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated role as a sensitive death row inmate in the 1999 film, “The Green Mile,” died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, his fiancee and a publicist announced. He was 54.

Duncan, whose most recent role was on the Fox TV series “The Finder,” had been hospitalized since suffering a heart attack July 13.

Jul 26 2012

He played a bigot, but audiences loved him

Sherman Alexander Hemsley, famous for his role as the bigoted George Jefferson on the CBS television series “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” may have “moved on up” after all, but not to the east side, as “The Jeffersons’” theme music happily proclaimed.

Hemsley died Tuesday at his home in El Paso, Texas, reportedly of natural causes. He was 74.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Jul 19 2012

He reprises role as Bruce Wayne’s mentor

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures “The Dark Knight Rises” is the epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy.

Leading an all-star international cast, Oscar winner Christian Bale (“The Fighter”) again plays the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

“The Dark Knight Rises” also stars Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy as Bane; Oscar winner Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose”) as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.