Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Over his career has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022.
Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans is an American actor, comedian, director and filmmaker. He is a member of the Wayans family of entertainers. Wayans first came to prominence as the host and creator of the 1990–1994 Fox sketch comedy series In Living Color. He has produced, directed or written several films, starting with Hollywood Shuffle, which he cowrote, in 1987. Most of his films have included him and one or more of his siblings in the cast.
Carmen: A Hip Hopera is a 2001 American musical romantic drama television film produced by MTV and directed by Robert Townsend. Starring Beyoncé Knowles in her debut acting role along with Mekhi Phifer, Mos Def, Rah Digga, Wyclef Jean, Da Brat, Joy Bryant, Reagan Gomez-Preston, Jermaine Dupri and Lil' Bow Wow, it is based upon the 1875 opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac, but set in modern-day Philadelphia and Los Angeles and featuring a mostly original hip-hop/R&B score in place of Bizet's opera.
Robert Conrad was an American film and television actor, singer, and stuntman. He is best known for his role in the 1965–1969 television series The Wild Wild West, playing the sophisticated Secret Service agent James T. West. He also portrayed private investigator Tom Lopaka in Hawaiian Eye (1959-1963) and World War II ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-1978).
Richard Samuel Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including Goodbye, Columbus (1969), Catch-22 (1970), Portnoy's Complaint (1972), Westworld, The Last of Sheila and Saturday the 14th (1981). Benjamin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performances in He & She (1968), opposite his wife Paula Prentiss.
Leon Preston Robinson, usually credited as simply Leon, is an American actor and singer who began his professional career as a film actor in the early 1980s. He is best known for his roles as J.T. Matthews in the 1991 Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats, Derice Bannock in the 1993 film Cool Runnings, Shep in the 1994 basketball drama film Above the Rim, and Little Richard in the 2000 film Little Richard.
I'm Gonna Git You Sucka is a 1988 American blaxploitation parody film written, directed by and starring Keenen Ivory Wayans in his directorial debut. Featured in the film are several noteworthy African-American actors who were part of the genre of blaxploitation: Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas and Isaac Hayes. It co-stars John Vernon, Kadeem Hardison, Ja'net Dubois, John Witherspoon, Damon Wayans, Clarence Williams III and Chris Rock, and acts as the film debuts of comedian Robin Harris and brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans.
The Five Heartbeats is a 1991 musical drama film directed by Robert Townsend, who co-wrote the script with Keenen Ivory Wayans. Produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film's main cast includes Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon Robinson, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells, Harold Nicholas, and Diahann Carroll. The plot of the film follows the three decade career of the rhythm and blues vocal group The Five Heartbeats. The film depicts the rise and fall of a Motown inspired soul act through the eyes of one of the Heartbeats, Donald "Duck" Matthews.
Cooley High is a 1975 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film that follows the narrative of high school seniors and best friends, Leroy "Preach" Jackson and Richard "Cochise" Morris. Written by Eric Monte and directed by Michael Schultz, the film, primarily shot in Chicago, was a major hit at the box office, grossing over $13 million (USD). The light-hearted-turned-tragic storyline was complemented by a soundtrack featuring many Motown hits.
Carl Franklin is an American filmmaker and former actor. Franklin is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley, and continued his education at the AFI Conservatory, where he graduated with an M.F.A. degree in directing in 1986.
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 American action comedy and crime comedy film, written by Richard Wesley and directed by and starring Sidney Poitier, with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte co-starring. Cosby and Poitier teamed up again for Let's Do It Again (1975) and A Piece of the Action (1977). Although Cosby's and Poitier's characters have different names in each film, the three films are considered a trilogy. Uptown Saturday Night premiered on June 15, 1974, at the Criterion Theatre in New York and opened to positive reviews.
Harold Joseph Lennix III is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the science-fiction series Dollhouse. Lennix co-stars as Harold Cooper, assistant director of the FBI Counterterrorism Division, on the NBC drama The Blacklist. Lennix also played J'onn J'onzz / Calvin Swanwick / Martian Manhunter in the DC Extended Universe films Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Zack Snyder's Justice League.
Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.
Glynn Turman is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. First coming to attention as a child actor in the original 1959 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, Turman is known for his roles as Lew Miles on the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place (1968–1969), high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford Taylor on the NBC sitcom A Different World (1988–1993), and Baltimore mayor Clarence Royce on the HBO drama series The Wire. He received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role on the HBO drama series In Treatment.
Richard Cummings Jr. is an American actor and film director most recognized for his acting roles in the dramas thirtysomething and Northern Exposure. He is currently working as a film and television director.
Denzel Dominique Whitaker is an American actor. Beginning his career as a child actor, he acted in the films Training Day (2001) and The Ant Bully (2006) before portraying James Farmer Jr. in The Great Debaters (2007), earning an NAACP Image Award for his work in the film. His other film work includes My Soul to Take (2010), Abduction (2011) and Black Panther (2018).
Roy Fegan is an American actor, producer, director and president of 3inaRo Entertainment. He is best known for his role as Simon Caine in the 1993 film The Meteor Man.
Denzel Washington is an American actor known for his performance on stage and screen. Washington made his feature film debut in Carbon Copy (1981). In 1982, Washington made his first appearance in the medical drama St. Elsewhere as Dr. Philip Chandler. The role proved to be the breakthrough in his career. He starred as Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the drama A Soldier's Story (1984). The film was an adaptation of the Off-Broadway play A Soldier's Play (1981–1983) in which Washington had earlier portrayed the same character.
Bentley Kyle Evans is an American television writer, producer, director and actor. He is a native of Oakland, California.
Townsend Entertainment is an American entertainment company, involved primarily in the production of films and television programs. Townsend Entertainment was founded by actor, producer, director and writer Robert Townsend. Its headquarters are located in Beverly Hills, California.
