Anna Deavere Smith (born September 18, 1950) is a Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist in residence at the Center for American Progress.
Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Anna (née Young), an elementary school principal, and Deavere Young Smith, a coffee merchant. Smith is an alumna of the historic Western High School (Baltimore, Maryland). She then ...
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Anna Deavere Smith (born September 18, 1950) is a Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated American actress, playwright, and professor. She is currently the artist in residence at the Center for American Progress.
Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Anna (née Young), an elementary school principal, and Deavere Young Smith, a coffee merchant. Smith is an alumna of the historic Western High School (Baltimore, Maryland). She then attended Beaver College (now Arcadia University), graduating in 1971. She received her M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California.
Smith is best known for her "documentary theatre" style in plays such as Fires in the Mirror and Twilight: Los Angeles, both of which featured Smith as the sole performer of multiple and diverse characters and won her the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show two years in a row. Fires in the Mirror dealt with the 1991 Crown Heights Riot. Twilight: Los Angeles...
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