Born and raised in New York, French began his career in community theater. It wasn’t long before he was also performing in street plays in Harlem for Amiri Baraka’s Black Arts Repertory Theater. In 1967 French was one of the founding members of the Negro Ensemble Company. His career however, was not limited to theater. He also has appeared in such notable films as “Malcolm X”, “Crooklyn”, “Car Wash”, “Round Midnight”and “Kinsey”, and on television programs such as “Law and Order”.

In light of his contributions to theatre, Actor’s Equity Association has named him the 2015 recipient of the Paul Robeson Citation award.

BRAVO to the great Arthur French who will receive the Actors' Equity Foundation 2015 Paul Robeson Citation Award http://t.co/UKjFOYJhi3

— Actors' Equity (@ActorsEquity) October 9, 2015

French joins other notable recipients of the award such as Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou and Sidney Poitier, among others. According to the website,

Created in 1971, the award honors individuals or organizations that best exemplify and practice the principles to which Mr. Robeson devoted his life:  dedication to the universal brotherhood of all humankind, commitment to the freedom of conscience and of expression, belief in the artist’s responsibility to society, respect for the dignity of the individual and concern for and service to all humans of any race or nationality.

Actors’ Equity Association is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 Actors and Stage Managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans.  Actor’s Equity Association has committed to “…present annual citations to the individual or organization that, during the preceding year or years, best exemplified and practiced the principles and ideals of the great humanitarian, Paul Robeson.”

French will be presented with the award at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 16, 2015 at the Eastern Regional Membership Meeting of Actors’ Equity Association.  We are thrilled to express our appreciation to Arthur French for his contribution to Black Broadway and our congratulations on receiving this well deserved award!

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McQueen described working on the Robeson project as a dream come true. He first discovered Robeson as a teenager when a neighbor gave him books and articles that he felt the young McQueen would find interesting. One of these articles was about Robeson.

“His life and legacy was the film I wanted to make the second after Hunger. But I didn’t have the power, I didn’t have the juice” McQueen said at the Hidden Heroes awards in New York last November.

With a Best Picture Oscar win for “12 Years a Slave” under his belt, McQueen now has the “juice” he needs. And, as booster shot, he will team with legendary singer, actor, civil rights activist and Robeson friend Harry Belafonte, in an undisclosed capacity, to develop the film.

Belafonte, who regarded Robeson as a role model as well as a friend, once said about the extraordinary entertainer, “…it was from Paul that I learned that the purpose of art is not just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be. And that if art were put into the service of the human family, it could only enhance their betterment.”

Robeson, the son of an escaped slave, was also an exceptional athlete, cultural scholar, and author. He won a four-year academic scholarship to Rutgers University and, despite violence and racism from teammates, won 15 varsity letters in baseball, basketball, and track and was twice named to the All-American Football Team. He also was a graduate of Columbia Law School but gave up his legal career for acting and singing after experiencing racism at work.

Robeson was one of the first Black men to play serious roles in the primarily white American theatre. In the mid-1920s, he played the lead in Eugene O’Neill’s All God’s Chillun Got Wings and The Emperor Jones. Throughout the late 1920s and 1930s, he was a widely acclaimed actor and singer. With songs such as his trademark “Ol’ Man River,” he became one of the most popular concert singers of his time. He was, perhaps, best known in theatre for his starring role in Othello, which was the longest-running Shakespeare play in Broadway history, running for nearly three hundred performances.

Robeson was not only a star in the U.S., but was revered internationally. He spoke 15 languages, and performed benefits throughout the world for various social justice causes. He believed that the famous have a responsibility to fight for justice and peace. In the late 1940s, Robeson openly questioned why African Americans should fight in the army of a government that tolerated racism.

Unfortunately, his outspokenness and campaigns against racism and social injustice led to the House Un-American Activities Committee, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, accusing him of being a communist. Once he was labeled a communist, Robeson was blacklisted from film studios and concert venues, and his passport was revoked. Though it was reinstated in 1958, his career never recovered. Paul Robeson retired from public life in 1963. He died in 1976, at age 77, in Philadelphia.

To date, there have been no details on the filming schedule or release date for McQueen’s film. However, the world is waiting for the remarkable story of an extraordinary man to be told.

The post Steve McQueen to Direct Film About Legendary Paul Robeson appeared first on Broadway Black.

Perhaps most prominently, Ruby Dee and Ozzie Davis were civil rights activists.  Known for her work with the American Negro Theatre and roles in “Do the Right Thing” and “American Gangster,” Dee was a member of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), the NAACP, SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee),  and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Notably, she emceed the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  Her husband, Davis, was nominated for two Tony Awards; in 1958 as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for Jamaica, and in 1970 as co-author of the book for Best Musical nominee, Purlie.  Davis delivered Malcolm X’s eulogy, which can be heard at the end of the film “Malcolm X,” and also gave a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the day after his assassination, at a memorial in New York’s Central Park.

Current Broadway stars have continued this dedication to activism. In July 2014, over 100 members of the Broadway community came together to send a message about police violence and the killing of Eric Garner.  Nik Walker (Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher) participated in the Times Square performance and said, “As artists, it’s very easy to blind ourselves to the issues plaguing our world today. This meeting won’t be to take a side in the Ferguson case. We just want to promote a respectful and productive conversation, so that events like this are never forgotten…and always learned from.”

Daniel J. Watts (After Midnight, Motown, Memphis, In The Heights) also used his talent to spotlight the Ferguson community, Michael Brown, and other African Americans who have been affected by police brutality.  In November 2014, Watts gave spoken word performances in Times Square in order to open a dialogue using his platform to talk about a variety of social issues.  More recently, this past May, Watts along with Wilkie Ferguson (Motown, Porgy n’ Bess and Post Modern Jukebox), and Nicholas Christopher (Motown and Whorl Inside A Loop), released their song, “Another One,” which riffs off of Queen’s 1980 hit, “Another One Bites The Dust.”  Watts recites poetry for the track, Christopher provides backing guitar, and Ferguson produced the tracks and added vocals.

These actors, along with countless others who have used their celebrity to provide awareness about social issues, are to be applauded for their work.  Without this spotlight, many issues would just be a brief flash on the evening news. Each time a person with name recognition attaches themselves to an issue, the more attention that cause receives.  Often, the Arts can be the bridge to open someone’s eyes.  As Watts eloquently said, “Art is the way for us to connect.  Art has the power to overcome obstacles.”

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