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Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine (born August 21, 1949) is an American actress, singer and voice actor. She is known for numerous roles across stage and screen. Her most high profile roles include Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of '' Dreamgirls'', the long-suffering Gloria Matthews in the film '' Waiting to Exhale'', and her recurring role as Adele Webber on the medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011. Early life Loretta Devine was born in Houston, Texas, on August 21, 1949. She grew up in the Acres Homes area of Houston, where her mother was a single mother to six children. She was very active on the pep squad, and performed in talent shows at George Washington Carver High School. In 1971, Devine graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama. In 1976, she received a Master of Fine Arts in Theater from Brandeis University. She was initiated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston
Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the List of North American cities by population, sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat and largest city of Harris County, Texas, Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous List of metropolitan statistical areas, metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. Comprising a land area of , Houston is the List of Uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence and immediacy of the experience. The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι (theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe"). Modern Western theatre comes, in large measure, from the theatre of ancient Greece, from which it borrows technical terminology, classification into genres, and many of its theme (arts), themes, stock characters, and plot elements. Theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreamgirls (film)
''Dreamgirls'' is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, ''Dreamgirls'' is a film à clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and one of its acts, the Supremes. The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive. The film adaptation stars Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy, and also features Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson. In addition to the original compositions by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen, four new songs, composed by Krieger with various lyricists, were added for the film. The film marks the acting debut of Hudson, a former ''America ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley & Iris
''Stanley & Iris'' is a 1990 American romantic drama film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro. The screenplay by Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch is loosely based on the 1982 novel ''Union Street'' by Pat Barker. The original music score is composed by John Williams and the cinematography is by Donald McAlpine. The film was marketed with the tagline "Some people need love spelled out for them." It was the final film for Ritt, Frank and Ravetch, as Ritt died ten months after the film's release, while Ravetch and Frank died respectively in 2010 and 2020. It was also the last film Fonda would appear in for 15 years until 2005's ''Monster-in-Law''. Plot Iris King, a widow still grieving 8 months after losing her husband, lives in a high-crime area in Connecticut and works in a baking factory. She lives from paycheck to paycheck as she raises her two children, Kelly and Richard. With money already tight for the family, Kelly learns she is pregnant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Nikita
''Little Nikita'' is a 1988 American thriller film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier. The film marks the first collaboration between Phoenix and Poitier (the second being ''Sneakers'' in 1992). Plot Jeffrey Nicolas Grant ( River Phoenix), a brash hyperactive high school student, lives in a San Diego suburb with his parents, who own a successful garden center. Keen to fly, he has applied for entry to the Air Force Academy. During a routine background check on Jeff, FBI agent Roy Parmenter (Poitier) finds evidence they may be sleeper agents for the Soviet Union. Unable to arrest them as they have not done anything illegal, Roy continues his investigation, moves into the house across the street from the Grant family, and worms his way into their confidence. He eventually confronts Jeff with his suspicions and seeks Jeff's cooperation to learn more about his parents. Initially unbelieving, Jeff is soon forced to accept the facts and dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Will (1981 Film)
''Will'' is a 1981 American drama film directed by Jessie Maple. It was the first independent feature-length film directed by an African-American woman. The movie was filmed on location in Harlem with a budget of $12,000 and featured an as-yet unknown actress, Loretta Devine, in her first film role. In 2013, the film was restored by the New York Women in Film and Television's Women's Film Preservation Fund. Plot Will is a girls' basketball coach, who is battling his heroin addiction while raising a 12-year-old adopted boy (called "Little Brother") with his wife (Loretta Devine). The film includes graphic depictions of drug use, including a scene where Little Brother snorts cocaine, and portrays the effect of drugs on individuals, their families, and their communities as well as the positive results of overcoming addiction. Casting Obaka Adedunyo earned his first film credit in the lead role of Will. Loretta Devine, an aspiring actress at that time, was rehearsing for the Broadway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jessie Maple
Jessie Maple is an American cinematographer and film director most noted as a pioneer for the civil rights of African-Americans and women in the film industry. Her 1981 film ''Will'' was one of the first feature-length dramatic films created by an African-American woman." Early life and education Maple was born in Louisiana in 1947 in a family of 4 brothers and seven sisters. In the 1960s and 1970s, Maple was head of a bacteriology and serology laboratory in Philadelphia and New York. She later wrote for the ''New York Courier''. She received film training through Ossie Davis's Third World Cinema, and through the National Education Television Training School, a program run by WNET public television in New York City. The latter program was established for African Americans to learn behind-the-scenes camera jobs in order to get into the union, but funding for this program was short-lived; as Maple noted, "It was so successful that after one year they shut it down." She began her car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wiz
''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) in the context of contemporary African-American culture. It opened on October 21, 1974, at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, and moved to Broadway's Majestic Theatre with a new cast on January 5, 1975. The 1975 Broadway production won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It was an early example of Broadway's mainstream acceptance of works with an all-Black cast. It has had revivals in New York, London, San Diego, and the Netherlands, and a limited-run revival was presented by ''Encores!'' at New York City Center in June 2009. A big-budget film adaptation of the same name was released in 1978, with Ted Ross and Mabel King reprising their roles. A live television production of the stage version, '' The Wiz Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway theatre, Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls (musical), Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a successful recording artist. She is best known for her debut single, the ''Dreamgirls'' number and rhythm-and-blues/pop hit, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", for which she won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Grammy in 1983. She also won a 1982 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Tony Award for ''Dreamgirls''. Career Broadway actress Holliday landed her first big role on Broadway in 1979 at age 18, the same day she auditioned for the Broadway theatre, Broadway production of ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God.'' Her performance in that musical earned her a 1981 Drama Desk nomination. Her next role, which she began to act at age 21, was the role for which she be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical nomination. She currently stars as Barbara Howard on the ABC mockumentary sitcom ''Abbott Elementary'', for which she won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, and became the first Black woman to win the award in 35 years. Ralph has appeared in a number of films during her career. She starred alongside Denzel Washington in the film '' The Mighty Quinn'' (1989). In 1991, she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her performance in the 1990 drama film '' To Sleep with Anger''. Ralph starred in the 1992 films '' Mistress'' and '' The Distinguished Gentleman''. She later played the role of Florence Watson in '' Sister Act 2: B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Wilson (singer)
Mary Wilson (March 6, 1944 – February 8, 2021) was an American singer. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of The Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history, as well as one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. The trio reached number one on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 with 12 of their singles, ten of which feature Wilson on backing vocals. Wilson remained with the group following the departures of the other three original members Barbara Martin (in 1962), Florence Ballard (in 1967), and Diana Ross (in 1970), though the subsequent group disbanded following Wilson's own departure in 1977. Wilson later became a ''New York Times'' best-selling author in 1986 with the release of her first autobiography, '' Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme'', which set records for sales in its genre, and later for the autobiography ''Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together''. Continuing a successful career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Supremes
The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. It is said that their breakthrough made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. ''Billboard'' ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time. Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown, the original members, were all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit. They formed ''the Primettes'' as the sister act to the Primes (with Paul Williams and Eddie Kendricks, who went on to form the Temptations). Barbara Martin replac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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