fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer.[1][2] Townsend is best known for directing the films Hollywood Shuffle (1987), Eddie Murphy Raw (1987), The Meteor Man (1993), The Five Heartbeats (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his eponymous self-titled character, Robert Peterson as the starring role as on The WB sitcom The Parent 'Hood (1995–1999), a series which he created and of which directed select episodes. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald "Duck" Matthews in his 1991 film The Five Heartbeats. He later wrote, directed and produced Making The Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films Playin' for Love,[3] In the Hive and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, Townsend gained national exposure through his stand-up comedy routines and appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Townsend has worked with talent including Halle Berry, Morgan Freeman, Chris Tucker, Beyoncé, Denzel Washington and many more.[4][5]

Robert Townsend
Born	(1957-02-06) February 6, 1957 (age 65) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education	Illinois State University
Alma mater	Austin High School
Occupation	Actor comedian film director writer
Years active	1974–present
Notable work	Hollywood Shuffle The Five Heartbeats The Parent 'Hood
Spouse	Cheri Jones ​ ​ (m. 1990; div. 2001)​
Children	3; including Skye
Website	roberttownsend.com

Early life and career

Townsend was born in Chicago, the second of four children[6] to Shirley (née Jenkins) and Ed Townsend. His mother ended up raising him and his three siblings as a single parent. Growing up on the city's west side, Townsend attended Austin High School; graduating in 1975.[7] He became interested in acting as a teenager. During a reading of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in high school, Townsend captured the attention of Chicago’s X Bag Theatre, The Experimental Black Actors Guild. Townsend later auditioned for parts at Chicago's Experimental Black Actors' Guild and performed in local plays studying at the famed Second City comedy workshop for improvisation in 1974. Townsend had a brief uncredited role in the 1975 movie Cooley High, but says the film "changed his life" for what he perceived as its true-to-life portrayal of people like him.[8]

After high school, Townsend enrolled at Illinois State University, studied a year and later moved to New York to study at the Negro Ensemble Company. Townsend's mother believed that he should complete his college education, but he felt that college took time away from his passion for acting, and he soon dropped out of school to pursue his acting career full-time.

Career

Townsend auditioned to be part of Saturday Night Live's 1980–1981 cast, but was rejected in favor of Eddie Murphy. In 1982, Townsend appeared as one of the main characters in the PBS series Another Page, produced by Kentucky Educational Television that taught literacy to adults through serialized stories. Townsend later appeared in small parts in films like A Soldier's Story (1984), directed by Norman Jewison, and after its success garnered much more substantial parts in films like The Mighty Quinn (1989) with Denzel Washington.[9]

In 1987, Townsend wrote, directed and produced Hollywood Shuffle, a satire based on the hardships and obstacles that black actors undergo in the film industry. The success of his first project helped him establish himself in the industry.[4][10] Another of his films was The Five Heartbeats based on 1960s R&B male groups and the tribulations of the music industry. Townsend created and produced two television variety shows—the CableACE award–winning Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime for HBO, and the Fox Television variety show Townsend Television (1993). He also created and starred in the WB Network's sitcom The Parent 'Hood which originally ran from January 1995 to July 1999. In 2018, Townsend also directed 2 episodes for the B.E.T. Series American Soul which began airing in 2019. The show is about Don Cornelius and Soul Train. Townsend was programming director at the Black Family Channel, but the network folded in 2007. Townsend created The Robert Townsend Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to introduce and help new unsigned filmmakers.

Awards and other credits

Townsend directed the 2001 TV movie, Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story for which Cole won the NAACP Image Award as Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. Townsend also directed two television movies in 2001 and 2002 respectively, Carmen: A Hip Hopera and 10,000 Black Men Named George. In 2013 Townsend was nominated for an Ovation Award in the category of "Lead Actor in a Musical" for his role as Dan in the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts production of Next to Normal.[11]

Personal life

Townsend was married to Cheri Jones[12] from September 15, 1990, to August 9, 2001.[13] Together they had two daughters, Sierra and Skye, both entertainers, and a son, Isiah.[4]

Filmography

Title	Year	Role
Cooley High	1975	Basketball player seen in the gym room (uncredited)
The Monkey Hustle	1976	Musician
Streets of Fire	1984	Lester - The Sorels
A Soldier's Story	1984	Cpl. Ellis
American Flyers	1985	Jerome
Ratboy	1986	Manny
Odd Jobs	1986	Dwight
Hollywood Shuffle	1987	Bobby Taylor (Director/Producer/Writer)
Eddie Murphy Raw	1987	(Director)
The Mighty Quinn	1989	Maubee
The Five Heartbeats	1991	Donald "Duck" Matthews (Director/Producer/Writer)
Robert Townsend and His Partners in Crime	1991	(Producer/Performer)
The Meteor Man	1993	Jefferson Reed/Meteor Man (Director/Producer/Writer)
Townsend Television	1993	(Creator/Producer/Performer)
The Parent 'Hood	1995–1999	Robert Peterson (Co-Creator)
B*A*P*S	1997	(Director)
Jackie's Back	1999	(Director)
Up, Up and Away	2000	Jim Marshall/Bronze Eagle (Director)
Little Richard	2000	(Director)
Holiday Heart	2000	(Director)
Carmen: A Hip Hopera	2001	(Director)
Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story	2001	(Director)
10,000 Black Men Named George	2002	(Director)
I Was a Teenage Faust	2002	Mr. Five
Black Listed	2003	Alan Chambers (Director)
Of Boys and Men	2008	Holden Cole
Phantom Punch	2009	(Director)
In the Hive	2012	(Director)
Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire	2012	Vampire Actor #1 (voice)
Bill Cosby 77	2014	(Director)
Playin' for Love	2015	(Director/Performer/Producer)
Making The Five Heartbeats	2018	(Director)
Black Lightning	2019	(Director/Performer)
American Soul	2019	(Director)
The Wonder Years	2021	(Director)

References

Further reading

• Alexander, George (December 18, 2007). Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema. Harlem Moon. ISBN 978-0-3074-1959-0.
• Collier, Aldore (June 1, 1991). "Robert Townsend: a new kind of Hollywood dreamer". Ebony. XLVI (8): 102–106. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
• Rogers, Brent. "Robert Townsend Article in Perspectives". Sustaining Digital History. 12 November 2007.

External links

• Official website
• Robert Townsend at IMDb

На других языках

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- [en] Robert Townsend (actor)

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[ru] Таунсенд, Роберт

Роберт Таунсенд (англ. Robert Townsend; род. 6 февраля 1957) — американский актёр, комик, режиссёр и сценарист[1][2][3].

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