Samm-Art Williams

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Samm-Art Williams
Publicity Photo of Samm-Art Williams
Publicity Photo of Samm-Art Williams
BornSamuel Arthur Williams
(1946-01-20)January 20, 1946
Burgaw, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedMay 13, 2024(2024-05-13) (aged 78)
Burgaw, North Carolina, U.S.
OccupationPlaywright, actor, screenwriter, television producer
NationalityAmerican
Period1973–2024
Notable awardsTony Award nomination and Drama Desk Award nomination for Home

Samuel Arthur Williams (January 20, 1946 – May 13, 2024) was an American playwright and screenwriter, television producer, and an actor on stage, television and film. Much of his work concerns the African-American experience.

Williams was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for his play Home (1979), which moved from the Negro Ensemble Company to a Broadway production in 1980. In the mid-1980s, he received two Emmy nominations for his work for TV series. The Black Rep of St. Louis, Missouri produced the premiere of his play The Montford Point Marine (2011).

Biography[edit]

Early life and career[edit]

Williams was born on January 20, 1946, in Burgaw, North Carolina, the son of Samuel and Valdosia Williams.[1] His mother was a school teacher, and Williams attended segregated public schools through high school[1] Williams grew up in Burgaw under the care of his mother, who was a high school English and drama teacher; he credited her with his interest in and love of words. Williams said that his mother “made me read everything from Langston Hughes to Edgar Allan Poe...I think The Raven was my greatest influence—in seeing this bird, I saw what a great thing it was to be able to work on a person’s mind with words.”[1] Williams graduated from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he studied political science and psychology. At one point, he considered becoming a lawyer, but his dream of being a playwright won out.[1]

After college, Williams moved to Philadelphia, where he collaborated with the New Freedom Theatre as an actor, worked as a salesman to pay his bills, and wrote in his free time. Eventually he moved to New York City to focus on his writing, though he knew he would also have to continue acting for income.[1]

As Samm Williams, he entered New York City theater as an actor in 1973, performing in the play Black Jesus.[citation needed] With New York's Negro Ensemble Company (NEC), Williams appeared in such plays as Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1974) and Liberty Calland (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1975), before taking on the name Samm-Art Williams for Argus and Klansman and Waiting for Mongo (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1975).[citation needed]

Williams, a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) lefty,[citation needed] was once a sparring partner of boxer Muhammad Ali.[2] Samm was recruited to work with Ali, who was afraid of lefties.[citation needed]

Other early New York acting experience includes understudy work in Leslie Lee's Tony Award-nominated Broadway play The First Breeze of Summer (Palace Theatre, June 7 – July 19, 1975);[3] Eden (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1976), The Brownsville Raid (Theatre de Lys, 1976–77), Night Shift (Playhouse Theatre, 1977), and Black Body Blues (St. Mark's Playhouse, 1978). His early work in regional theater includes Nevis Mountain Dew at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. (1979).[citation needed]

He made his screen debut playing "Roger" in the Richard Price novel adaptation The Wanderers (1979), and played a subway police officer in director Brian De Palma's Dressed to Kill (1980).[citation needed] An earlier film, the independent blaxploitation feature The Baron, a.k.a. Baron Wolfgang von Tripps and Black Cue, made circa 1977, was released direct-to-video by Paragon Video in 1996.[4]

As Samm Williams, he wrote the play Welcome to Black River, produced by the Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) at St. Mark's Playhouse in 1975; and as Samm-Art Williams, The Coming and Do Unto Others, both at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn in 1976; A Love Play produced by the NEC that same year; The Last Caravan (1977); and Brass Birds Don't Sing, at New York City's Stage 73 in 1978.[citation needed]

Williams participated in the NEC Playwrights Workshop, under the guidance of playwright-in-residence Steve Carter, who strongly influenced his work. About Carter, Williams has said "that no single individual has influenced my writing to the degree that Steve Carter has."[5]

Home[edit]

Williams' comedy Home was mounted by the Negro Ensemble Company at St. Mark's Playhouse from 1979 to 1980,[citation needed] moving to Broadway's Cort Theatre from May 7, 1980, to January 4, 1981.[3] The play earned nominations for both the Tony Award and the Drama Desk Award.[6]

1980s[edit]

Williams went on to play Matthew Henson in the historical drama TV movie Cook and Peary: The Race to the Pole (CBS, 1983). He starred in the PBS American Playhouse dramas Denmark Vesey (1985; title role) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (as Jim; 1986). In the mid-1980s he appeared in television series including The New Mike Hammer, 227, and Frank's Place, a CBS dramedy for which he also served as a story editor. His film work during this time included a role in Blood Simple (1984).

Williams wrote the PBS productions Kneeslappers (1980) and Experiment in Freedom (American Playhouse, 1985); episodes for the series Cagney and Lacey, The New Mike Hammer, Miami Vice, and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air; the "John Henry" episode of the Showtime cable network series Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales and Legends; and the NBC special Motown Returns to the Apollo (1986), among other work. He wrote a CBS series pilot titled Lenny's Neighborhood.[citation needed]

1990s–2020s[edit]

Williams wrote and directed the comedy The Dance on Widows' Row, produced by the New Federal Theatre at Manhattan's Harry De Jur Playhouse at Henry Street Settlement from June 25 to July 30, 2000.[7][8]

In 2006, Williams held auditions for his play The Waiting Room, to be performed that spring at the Raleigh Little Theatre's Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre in Raleigh, North Carolina.[9]

In 2011, The Black Rep of St. Louis, Missouri, produced the world premiere of his play The Montford Point Marine, starring J. Samuel Davis. Montford Point was where the first black Marines trained.[10]

Williams was Artist-in-Residence at North Carolina Central University, where he taught classes on equity theater and the art of playwriting. His producing for television also included story-editing and script-writing for the CBS television series Frank's Place in 1987–88, ABC-TV's Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, NBC-TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the short-lived UPN sitcom series Good News and the Fox TV sitcom series Martin.[11]

Williams died in Burgaw on May 13, 2024, at the age of 78.[12][13]

Awards and honors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Samm-Art Williams: A Biography". Roundabout Theatre (roundabouttheatre.org). April 29, 2021. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Reid, Kerry (8 June 2022). "Home is where the heart is". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b The Broadway League. "Internet Broadway Database: Samm-Art Williams". Ibdb.com. Archived from the original on 2005-05-20. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  4. ^ Box Office Prophets: "It Came from the Basement" (column): "The Baron", by John Seal (January 6, 2003) Archived October 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Carter, Steve (1986). Plays by Steve Carter (First ed.). New York, New York: Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. p. iv. ISBN 0-88145-043-X.
  6. ^ a b c "Internet Broadway Database: Samm-Art Williams - Awards". Ibdb.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  7. ^ Gutman, Les. "Review, 'The Dance on Widows' Row'" Archived 2008-02-22 at the Wayback Machine, Curtain Up, 29 June 2000
  8. ^ King, Woodie (2003). The Impact of Race: Theatre and Culture (First ed.). New York: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 249–256. ISBN 1-55783-579-9.
  9. ^ ""Auditions for "The Waiting Room" by Samm-Art Williams", Raleigh Little Theatre press releases". Raleighlittletheatre.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  10. ^ Kevin C. Johnson, "Review: 'The Montford Point Marine'" Archived 2012-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 27 May 2011, accessed 22 June 2011
  11. ^ "Samm-Art Williams 1946–". Encyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  12. ^ Cristi, A. A. (13 May 2024). "Tony-Nominated HOME Playwright Samm-Art Williams Dies At Age 78". Broadway World. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  13. ^ Phillips, Zoe G. "Samm-Art Williams, Tony-Nominated Playwright and 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' Producer, Dies at 78". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 14, 2024. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  14. ^ ""ECU hosts fourth Literary Homecoming", 2007 East Carolina University press release". Ecu.edu. 2009-06-17. Archived from the original on 2008-02-29. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  15. ^ [1][dead link]

External links[edit]

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