Moses Gunn

Moses Gunn
Moses Gunn
Born October 2, 1929(1929-10-02)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died December 17, 1993(1993-12-17) (aged 64)
Guilford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1962–1993

Moses Gunn (October 2, 1929 – December 17, 1993)[1] was an American actor. An Obie Award-winning stage player, he co-founded the Negro Ensemble Company in the 1960s. His 1962 Broadway debut was in Jean Genet's The Blacks. He was nominated for a 1976 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for The Poison Tree and played Othello on Broadway in 1970.

Contents

Biography

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Mary and George Gunn, he was the eldest of seven children. After his mother died, his family splintered. Moses left home and rode the railroad at just 12 years old. He returned to St. Louis and attended school while living at the home of Jewel Richie, his English and diction teacher. In 1954, Gunn began a three-year stint in the Army. In 1959, he received his B.A. degree from Tennessee State University. After that, he studied at the University of Kansas from 1959 to 1961 in their graduate program for speech and drama; they belatedly awarded him an M.A. degree in 1989. In March 2008 it was announced that the University of Kansas will house his memorabilia.[2] Gunn was a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

An authoritative black character actor of film and TV, Gunn also enjoyed a successful career on stage. He made his New York City stage debut in the original off-Broadway production of Jean Genet's The Blacks (1962). Gunn is best remembered for his portrayal of mobster Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Jonas in the first two Shaft movies, and for his brief role of Booker T. Washington in the 1981 movie Ragtime, a performance which won him an NAACP Image Award. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1977 for his role in the TV mini-series Roots. He also costarred with Avery Brooks on the TV series A Man Called Hawk. Gunn also appeared in a multi-episode story arc as atheist shop owner Carl Dixon on the sitcom Good Times, as Joe Kagan on Little House on the Prairie, and as the character Moses Gage in the 1980s NBC drama Father Murphy. He appeared on The Cosby Show episode "Grampy and Nu Nu Visit the Huxtables", as Olivia's (Raven-Symone) grandfather. His last notable role was as murder suspect Risley Tucker in "Three Men and Adena", an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He died from the complications of asthma in Guilford, Connecticut in December 1993.

Selected filmography

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Moses Gunn — Nacimiento 2 de octubre de 1929 San Luis (Missouri), Missouri, Estados Unidos de América Fallecimiento 17 de diciembre de 1993 (64 años) …   Wikipedia Español

  • Moses Gunn — (* 2. Oktober 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri; † 16. Dezember 1993 in Guilford, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Schauspieler. Gunn begann seine Karriere als Bühnenschauspieler und war in den 1960er Jahren Mitbegründer der „Negro Ensemble… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Moses Gunn — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Gunn. Moses Gunn est un acteur américain de cinéma, né le 2 octobre 1929 à Saint Louis (Missouri), États Unis, décédé le 16 décembre 1993. Biographie Il commença sa carrière dans les années 60 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gunn — may mean: In general : * Gunn High School, high school in Palo Alto, California * Gunnr, one of the valkyries in Norse mythology * Gunn diode, diode used in high frequency electronics * Clan Gunn, Highland Scots clan of Norse origin * Floyd M.… …   Wikipedia

  • Gunn — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Adam Gunn (1872–1934), US amerikanischer Leichtathlet Anna Gunn (* 1968), US amerikanische Schauspielerin David Gunn (Komponist), US amerikanischer Komponist David Gunn (Schauspieler) (* 1972), US… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gunn — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Gunn peut faire référence à : Personnalités John Battiscombe Gunn (né en 1928), physicien britannique ; James Gunn  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Moses Roper — Born c. 1815 Caswell County, North Carolina Died April 15, 1891 Boston, Massachusetts Occupation …   Wikipedia

  • Nathon Gunn — (November 4, 1973) is a new media entrepreneur and founder of Social Game Universe, a Toronto based social games developer. He also co founded the multimedia studio Bitcasters, helped start Citytv and MuchMusic Interactive, and supervised and… …   Wikipedia

  • Judith Moses — Infobox Politician honorific prefix = name =Judith Moses honorific suffix = imagesize = caption = candidate =York Simcoe party election =Liberal election date = opponent =John Dewar (Green) Sylvia Gerl (New Democratic) Vicki Gunn (Christian… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der Biografien/Gu — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”