African-American Actors
Tall, strikingly
handsome leading man of films and television in the 1980s and 1990s,
Denzel Washington was born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He was
the middle child of the 3 children of a Pentecostal minister father and
a beautician mother. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled
at Fordham University intent on a career in journalism. However, he caught
the acting bug while appearing in student drama productions and upon
graduation he moved to San Francisco and enrolled at the American Conservatory
Theater. He left A.C.T. after only 1 year to seek work as an actor. With
his acting versatility and powerful sexual presense, he had no difficulty
finding work in numerous television productions. He made his first big
screen appearance in Carbon
Copy (1981)
with George Segal. Through the 1980s he worked in both movies
and television and was chosen for the plum role of Dr. Chandler in
NBC's hit medical series "St. Elsewhere" (1982), a role that he would
play for 6 years. In 1989 he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for
his portrayal of Tripp, the runaway slave in Ed Swick's powerful historical
masterpiece Glory (1989). Through the 1990s Denzel co-starred in such
big budget productions as Pelican Brief, The (1993); Philadelphia (1993);
Crimson Tide (1995); Preacher's Wife, The (1996); and Courage Under Fire
(1996) - a role for which he was paid $10 million. He lives quietly in Los
Angeles with his wife Pauletta and their 4 children. Cerebral and meticulous
in his film work, he made his debut as a director in 1999 with Finding Fish
(2001).
Redd Foxx
Redd Foxx
Notorious for his
frank, tell-it-like-it-is style, Redd Foxx broke new ground for minorities
and comedians alike. By joking about everything from sex to color barriers,
he brought simmering and taboo issues into the open. His candor onstage
not only jump-started what is now considered a war with sensors, but
also inspired and enabled other comedians to achieve more than had ever
been possible. Foxx was not only "The King of Comedy," but also a talented
artist. He took a sketch book with him whenever possible, and enjoyed creating
his own fantastic images or capturing the essense of those whom he loved
or admired. John Elroy Sanford was born into poverty in St. Louis on December
9, 1922. With a ruddy complexion, Redd became a fast nickname. He derived
Foxx from admirable Major League Baseball player, Jimmie Foxx. He left
St. Louis for Chicago when he was 13, and supported himself by playing the
washboard in a band. When the band broke up three years later, he hopped
a train to New York City. It was there that he met Malcolm Little, a man
who would later be known as Malcolm X. In The Autobiography of Malcolm X,
he is referred to as "Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher on this earth."
Foxx began performing as a comedian/actor in black theaters and nightclubs,
often referred to as the "Chitlin Circuit." From 1951-1955 he teamed
with comic Slappy White, a lifelong friend who would also act alongside
him on Sanford and Son and The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour. While he was performing
in Los Angeles, he was offered a deal with the Dooto record label. Foxx
received $25 for his first recording. In the years to follow he would
produce over 50 comedic albums. During the 60s, as cultural barriers
began to wear down, Foxx's audience grew steadily. In 1972, after his film
debut in Ossie Davis' Cotton Comes to Harlem, Norman Lear signed Foxx as
junk dealer Fred Sanford in a new NBC sitcom. Sanford and Son, which co-starred
Demond Wilson and La Wanda Page, was a big hit. So big, in fact, that it
ranked in the top ten virtually every week it aired. At one point NBC even
ran the show twice a week. When Foxx left in 1977, it was reportedly because
NBC wouldn't give him a dressing room with a window. Closer to the truth,
however, might have been the generous salary offered to him by ABC. In
an effort to weaken NBC's powerhouse Friday line-up, ABC was determined
to lure away the Sanford and Son star. It worked. NBC's ratings dropped
continuously. Meanwhile, Foxx launched his own show, The Redd Foxx Comedy
Hour. He was executive producer of the program, which first aired on September
15, 1977, and cast him alongside Sarah Hardy, Slappy White, "Iron Jaw"
Wilson, Billy Barty, Hal Smith, Bill Saluga and The Gerald Wilson Orchestra.
Foxx was excited about the variety show's open forum, and planned to take
full advantage of the opportunity. In keeping with the show's tone, during
the introduction a list of guest stars that would not appear on the program
was read. Real guest stars included comedian Andy Kaufman and Bob Einstein's
"Super Dave Osborne" character. During the first episode, well aware that
he was infamous for a special brand of comedic routines, he joked, "The only
thing I can do from my nightclub act is smoke." Foxx took live questions
from the audience during his monologue, demonstrating his clever and on-the-ball
wit. The program's undisciplined nature made it extremely adventurous for
the 70s, and challenged both the audience and the sensors to speculate what
would transpire next. Nevertheless, having only been interested in hindering
NBC's progress, ABC wasn't concerned with how Foxx faired at their network.
The show was cancelled on January 26, 1978. Foxx then took to Las Vegas,
where he instantly became a headliner. He enjoyed performing there, and
continued even while he launched another sitcom for ABC. On The Redd Foxx
Show he played Al Hughes, a likeable, friendly newsstand owner. The cast
was a mix of former co-stars, including "Iron Jaw" Wilson, and new faces,
such as Nathaniel "Rollo" Taylor, Barry Van Dyke and Beverly Todd. The show
did not fair well with audiences, however, and when production was terminated
Foxx left ABC for good. In 1989 he and long-time friend Della Reese co-starred
in Eddie Murphy's Harlem Nights. Though the movie itself received little
attention, critics took notice of the pair's performance. CBS jumped and
signed the two for a new sitcom, The Royal Family. Unfortunately, while
on the set of The Royal Family, Foxx suffered a massive heart attack. Reese
bent over him and prayed, "Don't die Redd, don't die," but it was too late.
The world lost comedic genius Redd Foxx on October 11, 1991.
Omar Epps
Omar Epps
Born Omar Hashim
Epps in Brooklyn, New York, on May 16, 1973, Epps was raised by his
mother, an elementary school principal. He nurtured his interest in acting
at both the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the
New York High School for the Performing Arts. After his breakthrough in
Juice, Epps ran the risk of being typecast, playing athletes in a series
of films. However, his performances were consistently solid, and he earned
particular acclaim for his portrayal of a young man attending college
on an athletic scholarship in John Singleton's Higher Learning (1995).
Around this same time, Epps also excelled in a brief recurring role as
an emotionally stressed intern on E.R.; he would later identify that role
as the one that made it possible for audiences to finally put a name to
his face. A brief but memorable role in Scream 2 (1997) signaled a degree
of Hollywood acceptance for Epps; two years later he could be seen starring
in no less than four films in the same year. Two of these, a remake of The
Mod Squad and Alan Rudolph's disastrous adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast
of Champions, were all-out turkeys, but Epps did strong work in both The
Wood, in which he played one of a group of close-knit high school friends;
and In Too Deep, which featured him as a police detective trying to bring
down an underworld boss (L.L. Cool J. The following year, he returned to
the college sports realm in Love and Basketball, a romantic drama that premiered
at the 2000 Sundance Festival.