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Anna Deavere Smith
Smith was born in Baltimore , Maryland, United States. She is an American playwright, actress, author, journalist, and educator. She's 74 years old and still alive. -
Siblings
She was the first of five children to Anna her mother, an elementary school educator, and Deaver her father, a coffee merchant. -
One of a few African-American Students
"As one of only a few African-American students at Beaver College in the 1960s, she recently told NEH Chairman William Adams, she helped form a black student group, which led to changes to the curriculum and to the hiring of the school’s first black professor"(Lecture). -
Beaver College
She earned her B.A in Beaver College studying linguistics. -
San Francisco
"She then moved to "San Francisco to study acting at the American Conservatory Theatre, where she earned an M.F.A. degree"(Craine). -
Carnegie Mellon University
At Carnegie Mellon University was where she started her first job teaching in the drama department. -
Acting Career
"In 1988, Smith appeared at the West Coast Woman and Theater Conference, which brought a good deal of scholarly attention. In this production, On the Road: Voices of Bay Area Women in Theater, Smith represented twenty-three living women"(Lecture). -
Fires In the Mirror
"Her breakthrough work was Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities (1992), which told the story of the racial tension that rocked the Crown Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn following an incident in 1991 in which the car of a Hasidic Jew went out of control and hit and killed an African American child. Smith crafted the play from her own in-depth interviews, and she performed all 29 roles, moving seamlessly from one character to the next"(Craine). -
Information for plays
"Back in the early ’90s, Smith conducted 320 interviews with residents of Los Angeles who had been part of or had witnessed the 1992 Los Angeles riots"(DiepThought). -
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992
"Her second play "In 1993 her next offering,Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, was a similarly crafted exploration ofthe violencethat erupted after the acquittal of four white police officers charged in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, an African American"(Craine). -
Pulitzer Prize
She was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for "Fires in the Mirror" along with Larry Kramer for "The Destiny of Me". -
Theater World Award
She won a Theatre World Award for her play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. -
Genius Grant
"She was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship (a “genius grant”)"(Craine). -
Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue Archive
"The Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue was founded in 1997 by Anna Deavere Smith to support the development of those artworks and projects specifically concerned with social conditions and to foster dialogue between artists, activists, scholars and audiences that could both enhance the artworks and encourage a broader, more open exchange of ideas"(Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue). -
Anna's books
Anna Deavere Smith also published books like Talk to Me: Travels in Media and Politics and Letters to a Young Artist. -
Let Me Down Easy
"In 2008 she premiered a one-woman play, Let Me Down Easy, which explored the resiliency and vulnerability of the human body. Smith portrayed more than 20 characters, who spoke out about current events such as genocide in Rwanda, steroid use among athletes, AIDS in Africa, and the U.S. health care system"(Craine). -
Anna's bachground
"Not only was she descended from slaves, but she also comes from a long line of free people of color — going back as far as 12 years after the end of the American Revolution"(Ancestry Team). -
Notes from the Field
"Another one-woman play, Notes from the Field (2016), explored the “pipeline” from school to prison for poor students in the United States"(Craine). -
Lucille Lortel Award
The playwright "Notes From The Field" won Outstanding Solo show because Anna Deavere Smith made it so its performed as a one-woman show. -
Biden's President's Committee
"According to NYU TISCH Ms. Smith " is a University Professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She serves on Biden’s President’s Committee for Arts and Humanities"("Anna Smith"). -
Relationships
Anna Deavere Smith keeps her life real private and love ones off of social media. There was rumors of a relationship but as far as we know she is unmarried and has no kids.