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Anna Deavere Smith - Writer/Performer/Producer
Actor, playwright, and teacher, Anna Deavere Smith has built a remarkably wide-ranging and respected career. Hailed as "the most exciting individual in American theater" by NEWSWEEK in 1993, and profiled on 60 MINUTES, Ms. Smith -- whose work explores the American character and our multi-faceted national identity -- has been acclaimed by the media, critics, and audiences around the country. The MacArthur Foundation awarded Ms. Smith a prestigious "genius" fellowship in 1996, saying she "has created a new form of theater -- a blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism and intimate reverie." "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992" is the second of Ms. Smith's award winning plays to be adapted on film, preceded by "Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities." As stage works, both of these plays collected many awards, among them Obies, a Drama Desk, and the New York Critics Circle Award. "Twilight: Los Angeles" was produced on Broadway and received two Tony nominations. "Fires in the Mirror" was a runner up for the Pulitzer Prize. Ms. Smith's most recent play, "House Arrest," examines the American presidency past and present. She is a tenured professor at New York University, where she is appointed in the Tisch School of the Arts and affiliated with the NYU School of Law. She is founder and director of The Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, a multidisciplinary experiment in which artists create new works of art about social issues in an environment with scholars, activists and other artists. She is author of TALK TO ME (Random House), a chronicle of her journey to Washington, D.C. to understand the presidency, the press, and how we as Americans hear from -- and speak to -- our leaders. Ms. Smith's feature film work includes roles in THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, DAVE and PHILADELPHIA, and her television work includes a recurring role in THE PRACTICE and a guest star role in the premiere episode of THE WEST WING.
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