Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his versatile work spanning over four decades of screen and stage, he has been regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times naming him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Washington has received a number of honors, including two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award and AFI Life Achievement Award, and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Keenen Ivory Desuma Wayans is an American actor, comedian, 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 portrayed World War II ace Pappy Boyington in the television series Baa Baa Black Sheep. In addition to acting, he was a singer and recorded several pop/rock songs in the late 1950s and early 1960s as Bob Conrad. He hosted a weekly two-hour national radio show on CRN Digital Talk Radio beginning in 2008.
George Tillman Jr. is an American filmmaker.
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.
John Witherspoon was an American actor and comedian who performed in various television shows and films. He played Willie Jones in the Friday series, and starred in films such as Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Boomerang (1992), The Five Heartbeats (1991), and Vampire in Brooklyn (1995). In addition, Witherspoon made appearances on television shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1994), The Wayans Bros. (1995–1999), The Tracy Morgan Show (2003), Barnaby Jones (1973), The Boondocks (2005–2014), and Black Jesus (2014–2019). He wrote a film, From the Old School, in which he played an elderly working man who tries to prevent a neighborhood convenience store from being developed into a strip club.
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.
Eric Monte is an American screenwriter and TV series creator. He is known for his work in depicting 1970s African-American culture. Monte wrote and created several sitcoms for television such as Good Times, The Jeffersons as a writer, What's Happening!!, and its spin-off series, What's Happening Now!!. The series was based on the coming of age film Cooley High, which Monte wrote and which was based on his high school experiences.
The Meteor Man is a 1993 American superhero comedy film written, directed, co-produced and starring Robert Townsend with supporting roles by Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin, Robert Guillaume, James Earl Jones, Bill Cosby and Another Bad Creation. The film also features special appearances by Luther Vandross, Sinbad, Naughty by Nature, Cypress Hill and Big Daddy Kane. Townsend stars as a mild-mannered schoolteacher who becomes a superhero after his neighborhood in Washington, D.C., is terrorized by street gangs.
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.
Tico Wells is an American actor, known for his role as Choir Boy in the 1991 film The Five Heartbeats. He has also appeared on The Cosby Show, 227, Hallmark movies and Beverly Hills, 90210. He was Tim in the movie The Wish List, and played Dexter Williams, the younger brother of Denzel Washington's character Demetrius Williams, in Mississippi Masala. He starred as Kirkland J. Ellis, III, in the independent film Big Ain't Bad, a romantic drama that won Auds honors at the Hollywood Black Film Festival. He made a cameo in the Martin Lawrence show, Martin as "Sweet Reggie."
Bentley Kyle Evans is an American television writer, producer, director and actor. He is a native of Oakland, California.
Lydia Nicole is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer based out of Los Angeles, California. Her career in the entertainment industry began in 1972 with the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation at New York City R&B station, WBLS-FM. In 1981, she made her debut as an actress guest starring on The Greatest American Hero. Nicole is best known for her role as Rafaela in Stand and Deliver, and her current project, web series Common Sense Mamita.
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.
African American cinema is loosely classified as films made by, for, or about Black Americans. Historically, African American films have been made with African-American casts and marketed to African-American audiences. The production team and director were sometimes also African American. More recently, Black films featuring multicultural casts aimed at multicultural audiences have also included American Blackness as an essential aspect of the storyline.
