Basil Wallace

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Basil Wallace
Born (1951-01-15) January 15, 1951 (age 74) [1]
Occupation(s)Actor, playwright, theatre director, acting teacher
Years active1973–present
Website www.basilwallace.com

Basil Wallace (born January 15, 1951) is a Jamaican-American actor, playwright, theatre director, and acting teacher.

Contents

Early life

Wallace was born in Kingston and immigrated to the United States as a child with his four siblings. His family first settled in Brooklyn, New York City. He, his parents, and his siblings then moved to Long Island, where he attended Hempstead High School. [2]

Career

Wallace became interested in theater and, after graduating high school, entered New York University. [2] He attended NYU for two years, during which time he performed in his first Off-Off-Broadway play. He went on to work for many years as a playwright, actor, and theatre director in New York.

Early in Wallace's career, he became involved with La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan's East Village. [2] He acted in a production, called "Short Bullins", of four Ed Bullins one-act plays at La MaMa in 1972. [3] The Jarboro Company then took those one-acts (How Do You Do?, A Minor Scene, Dialect Determinism, and It Has No Choice, along with Bullins' Clara's Old Man and Richard Wesley's Black Terror) on tour to Italy. [4] He also acted in Clifford Mason's Sister Sadie, directed by Allie Woods at La MaMa in 1972. [5]

Wallace co-wrote (with Angela Marie Lee) and directed the play Sounds of a Silent Man at La MaMa in 1973, [6] and directed Edgar Nkosi White's Lament for Rastafari at La MaMa in 1977. [7] He returned to La MaMa in 1987 to direct a work-in-progress reading of White's Tres Cepas (The Love Songs for China). [8]

Wallace taught at Lincoln Center Theater for a decade, was the drama director for School District 13 in the Bronx, and was the director of Mini-Mobile Theatre for two years. He was one of the founding members and served as artistic director for the first year of the Caribbean American Repertory Theatre. [2]

In 1990, Wallace moved to Los Angeles and auditioned for the film Marked for Death. He was cast as the lead villain, Screwface. Wallace has continued to act in film and television throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1987 Eddie Murphy Raw Eddie's Father
1990 Marked for Death "Screwface"
1991 Wedlock "Emerald"
Grand Canyon Insurance Salesman
1992 Rapid Fire FBI Agent Wesley
1993 Return of the Living Dead 3 "Riverman"
1995 Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home Reporter
1998 Caught Up Ahmad
1999 The Wood Lisa's Father
2001 Joy Ride Car Salesman
2002 Like Mike Drill Sergeant Dad
2006 Blood Diamond Benjamin Kapanay
2024The Geechee Witch: A Boo Hag StoryJacob

Television

Year(s)TitleRoleNotes
1990 Star Trek: The Next Generation Klingon Guard #1Episode 4.7: "Reunion"
China Beach RashidEpisode 4.9: "The Call"
1991 Quantum Leap "Jazz" BooneEpisode 4.10: "Unchained"
1992 Afterburn Captain Terry "Joker" North TV film
1993 Sirens PacnowEpisode 1.7: "Strike Two"
1994 NYPD Blue Reginald HarrisEpisode 2.2: "For Whom the Skell Rolls"
1995 Children of the Dust Unknown RoleTV miniseries
1996 Dark Skies Barney Hill Episode 1&2: "The Awakening"
1997 Beverly Hills, 90210 Cop #1Episode 7.17: "Face-Off"
BloodhoundsLieutenant Ron CoughlinTV film
Diagnosis: Murder William TurnerEpisode 4.24: "The Merry Widow Murder"
Soldier of Fortune, Inc. Unknown RoleEpisode 1.9: "Missing in Action"
1998 Born Free Josef Awaz8 episodes
Pensacola: Wings of Gold President Louis SimoneEpisode 1.14: "Soldiers of Misfortune"
The Practice JerryEpisode 2.21: "In Deep"
1999 ER Mr. CampbellEpisode 5.17: "Sticks and Stones"
Pacific Blue Unknown RoleEpisode 5.13: "Swimming the Dead Pool"
2000 The Pretender Sheriff BowenEpisode 4.8: "Rules of Engagement"
Judging Amy Reverend Del MuellerEpisode 2.3: "Instincts"
City of Angels Joe2 episodes
2001 Any Day Now Unknown RoleEpisode 3.19: "What If?"
The Division Rupert TaylorEpisode 1.14: "The Parent Trap"
2002 The West Wing McKonnen LobokoEpisode 3.14: "Night Five"
Philly Marcus HermanEpisode 1.22: "Mojo Rising"
The Agency Unknown RoleEpisode 2.2: "Air Lex"
Strong Medicine Ezekiel Monroe-HowardEpisodes 3.12: "Blush"
2003 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation PrincipalEpisodes 4.10: "Coming of Rage"
2004 LAX FredericksEpisodes 1.7: "Out of Control"
2007 NCIS Delphin AbakaEpisode 5.8: "Designated Target"
2009 Burn Notice Claude LaurentEpisode 2.14: "Truth and Reconciliation"
2012 NCIS: Los Angeles Ed GorntEpisode 3.14: "Partners"
2013 Eagleheart BunjuEpisode 2.11: "Bringing Down Bunju"
2021Christmas in HarmonyDeacon JamesTV film

References

  1. "Birth date and name reference: Basil Wallace" . Retrieved April 5, 2024 via FamilySearch.org.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Basil Wallace - Biography". BasilWallace.50Webs.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  3. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Short Bullins (1972)". Accessed April 3, 2018. Archived July 7, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  4. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Tour: Jarboro Company in Italy (1972)". Accessed April 3, 2018.
  5. "Production: Sister Sadie (1972)". La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  6. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Sounds of a Silent Man (1973)". Accessed April 3, 2018.
  7. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Lament for Rastafari (1977)". Accessed April 3, 2018.
  8. La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: Tres Cepas (1987)". Accessed April 3, 2018.