Dale Ricardo Shields is an African American actor, director, producer, and educator. He is one of ten teachers nationwide who received the 2017

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

/ Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award, and also received the 2017

AUDELCO AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awa ...

/"VIV" Special Achievement Award.

Early life

Shields is the youngest of two sons of Claude Lee and Fannie Lousie Shields. His grandfather and father were founding members of the Shields Brother Gospel Quartet of Ohio and his mother was a member of the Turner Gospel Singers directed by the gospel artist, Arthur Turner.

Don King Donald King (born August 20, 1931) is an American boxing promoter, known for his involvement in several historic boxing matchups. He has been a controversial figure, partly due to a manslaughter conviction and civil cases against him, as well a ...

is Shields' oldest living relative (cousin). King's mother and Shields' grandmother were sisters. Dale graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in 1970 and holds BFA (1975) and MFA (1995) '' summa cum laude'' degrees from

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subseq ...

. He is an Inductee of the

Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...

(Honor Society Fraternity), In Honor of Ancestral Sacrifices award (Ohio University), The Certificate of Merit ( The National Exchange Club of Cleveland), and The George E, Mills Hall of Excellence (John F. Kennedy High School).

Career

Shields' professional credits as a director, stage manager, and actor (Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and Regional) include projects and assignments at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...

(State Theatre), The

Henry Street Settlement The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founde ...

House (

New Federal Theatre The New Federal Theatre is a theatre company named after the African-American branch of the Federal Theatre Project, which was created in the United States during the Great Depression to provide resources for theatre and other artistic programs. ...

), The Negro Ensemble Company, The Joseph Papp Public Theatre (

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...

) and

Karamu House Karamu House in the Fairfax neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, is the oldest African-American theater in the United States opening in 1915. Many of Langston Hughes's plays were developed and premièred at the theater. ...

. Shields is on the board of directors of

. Shields studied at The Negro Ensemble Company and The Henry Street Settlement House with

Harold Scott (director) Harold Russell Scott Jr. (6 September 1935 – 16 July 2006) was an American stage director, actor and educator, who broke racial barriers in American theatre. Scott first became known for his work as an electrifying stage actor with a pier ...

and

Dick Anthony Williams Richard Anthony Williams (August 9, 1934 – February 16, 2012) was an American actor. Williams is best known for his starring performances on Broadway in ''The Poison Tree'', ''What the Wine-Sellers Buy'' and ''Black Picture Show''. Williams also ...

. Shields was the assistant director to

Lloyd Richards Lloyd George Richards (June 29, 1919 – June 29, 2006) was a Canadian-American theatre director, actor, and dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979 to 1991, and Yale University professor emeritus. Biography Richards was born in Toron ...

for the New Federal Theatre premiere production of

Ossie Davis Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...

' play ''A Last Dance With Sybil'' starring Ruby Dee and

Earl Hyman Earle Hyman (born George Earle Plummer; October 11, 1926 – November 17, 2017) was an American stage, television, and film actor. Hyman is known for his role on '' ThunderCats'' as the voice of Panthro and various other characters. He also ap ...

. His TV acting credits include ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'', '' Another World'', '' Guiding Light'', ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'', and the ITV television series ''Special Needs''. In 2001, Shields directed and choreographed a production of the

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

play ''

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf ''for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf'' is Ntozake Shange's first work and most acclaimed theater piece, which premiered in 1976. It consists of a series of poetic monologues to be accompanied by dance moveme ...

'' which featured the young

Danai Gurira Danai Jekesai Gurira (; born February 14, 1978) is an American-Zimbabwean actress and playwright. She is best known for her starring roles as Michonne on the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2012–2020, 2022) and as Okoye in th ...

, then a senior at Macalester College. In 2015, Shields directed the staged reading of HOME by

Samm-Art Williams Samm-Art Williams (born Samuel Arthur Williams; January 20, 1946) is an American playwright and screenwriter, and a stage and film/ TV actor and television producer. Much of his work concerns the African-American experience. He was nominated ...

at the Karamu House Jelliffe Theatre. The production featured James Pickens, Jr., Nina Domingue and Mariama Whyte. Shields appeared as Martin in the New York City revival of Stephen Sondheim's '' Any One Can Whistle'' at the York Theatre Company, directed by Fran Soeder and in the Lincoln Center world premiere of ''Lily'' based on

Saul Bellow Saul Bellow (born Solomon Bellows; 10 July 1915 – 5 April 2005) was a Canadian-born American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts. He is the only w ...

's ''Henderson the Rain King''. directed by Tom O' Horgan at Lincoln Center (State Theatre). Shields has also appeared in various commercials and film. For theatrical director/producer

Joseph Papp Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...

, he conducted workshops at

The Public Theatre The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American L ...

(New York Shakespeare Festival) with the Playwriting in the Schools Program (PITS) for six seasons. During his six-year teaching tenure at The Public Theatre, he represented the United States of America at the ASSITEJ Theatre Festival in London, England in 1988. In recognition of his outstanding career, Shields received the Special Achievement Award at the 45th Annual Vivian Robinson

Recognition Awards event in 2017. In 2020 and 2021, Dale received the Actors Fund / Encore Award. In September, 2022, Shields received the Ebony Bobcat Network (EBN) Legend Award from Ohio University.

Educator

As a University Professor, Shields has received two Outstanding Professor Awards and three Educational Program of the Year awards. In 2015, Shields was nominated for the inaugural "Excellence in Theatre Education Award". This award is a collaboration between the

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

and Carnegie Mellon University. The award recognizes a K-12 theatre educator "who has demonstrated monumental impact on the lives of students and who embodies the highest standards of the profession." Shields has taught at

The College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Churc ...

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

Macalester College Macalester College () is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 2,174 students in the fall of 2018 from 50 U.S. states, four U.S te ...

, Susquehanna University artist-in-residence, and SUNY Potsdam. He teaches courses in acting, directing, Black theatre history, and stage management. In 2009, Shields created the Black history website iforcolor.org.

References

External links

IMDB - Dale Shields
* https://news.ohio.edu/news/2022/09/school-theater-graduate-dale-shields-imparts-wisdom-students-during-black-alumni
AboutTheArtist

Broadway World

iforcolor.org

TV.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shields, Dale Ricardo 1952 births Living people American male television actors African-American male actors American male stage actors 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors African-American educators Ohio University alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people