Robert Hooks-Cultural Architect

Robert Hooks is an actor of films, television, stage and co-Founder of NY's Negro Ensemble Company & Founder of the DC Black Repertory Co. As a producer & political activist he is most recognizable to the public for over 100 roles in films, TV and has been regarded, variously, as a gifted artist who broke the color barriers in stage, film and television before the term "colorblind casting" existed, and a leading man when there were no African American matinee idols. He originated roles on the New York stage in such classics as Dutchman, A Taste of Honey, Hallelujah Baby! and The Blacks. He was the first Black male lead on a television drama, the original N.Y.P.D. and the first to perform Shakespeare's Henry V for Joe Papp. Although his active stance in politics cost him jobs, it engendered continuing requests for him to speak publicly, significantly, in front of the House Congressional Committee regarding the importance of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Humanities Act.