Negro Ensemble News Today

Samm-Art Williams, who made his mark in several fields — as an executive producer of the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” as an ac

He challenged racial barriers in Hollywood, was a producer of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and earned a Tony nomination for “Home,” a paean to his Southern roots.

Lear, who died Dec. 5, used humor to address racism and politics. Terry Gross spoke with Lear in 2014; Good Times actor Esther Rolle in 1983; and All in the Family director John Rich in 2006.

Lear, who died Dec. 5, used humor to address racism and politics. Terry Gross spoke with Lear in 2014; Good Times actor Esther Rolle in 1983; and All in the Family director John Rich in 2006.

While indelibly tied to the role that made him famous in 1971, the actor remained active for more than four decades afterward.

“Shaft,” which was released in 1971, was among the first of the so-called Blaxploitation movies, and it made Roundtree a movie star at 29.

'Shaft' Star Richard Roundtree Passes Away At 81

Richard Roundtree, a trailblazing actor who starred as private detective John Shaft in several films in the 1970s, has died. He was 81.

Renowned film director Michael Schultz, known for iconic 1970s movies “Cooley High” and “Car Wash” and 1980s classics “Krush Groove” and “The Last Dragon,” once directed at the Antioch Area Theater's summer festival in the '60s. Arthur Lithgow offered Schultz the job.

The play is much more than a crime drama, it sheds light on the history of segregation and racism in the U.S. Army and broader American society.