Category: Whats Buzzing in the Streets

Aaron Vincent McGruder (born May 29, 1974) is an American writer, lecturer, producer, screenwriter and cartoonist best known for writing and drawing The Boondocks, a Universal Press Syndicate comic strip and its animated TV series adaptation for which he was the creator, executive producer, and head writerBorn in Chicago, McGruder and his family moved to Columbia, MD, when he was six. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Afro-American Studies, and a concentration in social and cultural analysis. As a journalistic artist, his comic strip, “The Boondocks,” made its debut in the campus newspaper, The Diamondback, in late 1996. The material was entertaining and also filled with social and political commentary, so much so that it was yanked from the public in the months following the 9/11 attack in New York City, Pennsylvania, and D.C.In 2002, McGruder was awarded the “Chairman’s Award” at the NAACP Image Awards. Additionally, USA Today has called McGruder “the most dangerous black man” and compared his voice (message) to that of Langston Hughes. McGruder is creative, driven, and astute. A frequent public speaker on political and cultural issues, McGruder gave a keynote speech at H2K2 (a hacker’s conference) in 2002, where he railed against the George Bush administration, corporate-controlled mass media, political corruption, financial scandal and U.S. foreign policy.He now lives in Los Angeles, where he is working on projects that include animating Boondocks. He is also the co-author of a graphic novel, Birth of a Nation, published in 2004.In August 2017, it was announced that McGruder, along with producer Will Packer, will develop a series for Amazon Video called Black America which will be based on an alternative history where emancipated black Americans receive three Southern states as reparations for slavery. The series’ announcement was reportedly seen as a response to HBO’s in-development alternative history series Confederate, whose plot entails a history where the Confederacy won the Civil War.

Written by Dianne Washington

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the “Empress of Soul”, is an American recording artist, songwriter, businesswoman, humanitarian and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, she is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, the most famous incarnation of which also included her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.Knight was born in Oglethorpe, Georgia, the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods) and Merald Woodlow Knight, Sr., a postal worker. She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of 7 in 1952. The following year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a musical group called The Pips (named after another cousin, James “Pip” Woods). By the end of the decade, the act had begun to tour, and had replaced Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest with Gladys Knight’s cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George.Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966, and, although regarded as a second-string act, scored several hit singles, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, (recorded first by Marvin Gaye but released a year later), “Friendship Train” (1969), “If I Were Your Woman” (1970), “I Don’t Want To Do Wrong” (1971), the Grammy Award winning “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)” (1972), and “Daddy Could Swear (I Declare)” (1973). In their early Motown career Gladys Knight and the Pips toured as the opening act for Diana Ross and The Supremes. Gladys Knight stated in her memoirs that Ross kicked her off the tour because the audience’s reception to Knight’s soulful performance overshadowed her. Berry Gordy later told Gladys that she was giving his act a hard time.The act left Motown for a better deal with Buddah Records in 1973, and achieved full-fledged success that year with hits such as the Grammy-winning “Midnight Train to Georgia” (#1 on the pop and R&B chart), “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” and “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”. In the summer of 1974, Knight and the Pips recorded the soundtrack to the successful film Claudine with producer Curtis Mayfield. The act was particularly successful in Europe, and especially the United Kingdom. However, a number of the Buddah singles became hits in the UK long after their success in the US. For example, “Midnight Train to Georgia” hit the UK pop charts Top 5 in the summer of 1976, a full three years after its success in the U.S.During this period of greater recognition, Knight made her motion picture acting debut in the film Pipe Dreams, a romantic drama set in Alaska. The film failed at the box-office, but Knight did receive a Golden Globe Best New Actress nomination.Knight and the Pips continued to have hits until the late 1970s, when they were forced to record separately due to legal issues, resulting in Knight’s first solo LP recordings–Miss Gladys Knight (1978) on Buddah and Gladys Knight (1979) on Columbia Records. Having divorced James Newman II in 1973, Knight married Barry Hankerson (future uncle of R&B singer Aaliyah), then Detroit mayor Coleman Young’s executive aide. Knight and Hankerson remained married for four years, during which time they had a son, Shanga Ali. Upon their divorce, Hankerson and Knight were embroiled in a heated custody battle over Shanga Ali.In the early 1980s, Johnny Mathis invited Gladys to record two duets – “When A Child Is Born” (previously a hit for Mathis) and “The Lord’s Prayer”.Signing with Columbia Records in 1980 and restored to its familiar quartet form, Gladys Knight & the Pips began releasing new material. The act enlisted former Motown producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their first two LPs–About Love (1980) and Touch (1981). During this period, Knight kicked a gambling addiction to the game baccarat.In 1987, Knight decided to pursue a solo career, and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love (1987), for MCA Records. Its infectious lead single, “Love Overboard”, was a #1 R&B hit and won another Grammy for the act as well. After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Knight began her solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.While still with The Pips, Gladys joined with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John on the 1986 AIDS benefit single, “That’s What Friends Are For”, a triple #1 mega-hit, which won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. In 1989, she recorded the title track for the James Bond movie Licence to Kill, a top 10 hit in the UK and Germany.Gladys released her third and most successful solo LP, Good Woman, on MCA in 1991. It hit #1 on the R&B album chart and featured the #2 R&B hit “Men”. It also reached #45 on the main Billboard album chart – her all time highest showing. The album also featured “Superwoman”, written by Babyface and featuring Dionne Warwick and Patti LaBelle. Knight and LaBelle would collaborate the same year on “I Don’t Do Duets”, a duet with Patti LaBelle from LaBelle’s album Burnin’.Her fourth solo LP, Just for You, went gold and was nominated for the 1995 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.In 1992 Vernon Ray Blue II, choir master of the year asked Gladys to record his first single “He Lifted Me”Knight joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997. She had occasionally teased LDS Church president, the late Gordon B. Hinckley, that his flock needs to inject some “pep” into their music. Knight created and now directs the Mormon-themed choir Saints Unified Voices. SUV has released a Grammy Award-winning CD titled One Voice, and occasionally performs at LDS church firesides.In 2005, a duet between Knight and the late Ray Charles of “You Were There” was released on Charles’ duets album Genius & Friends.In 2008, a duet between Knight and Johnny Mathis was released on Mathis’ album A Night to Remember. Knight is ranked number eighteen on VH1 network’s list of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock.In the spring of 2008, Knight appeared alongside Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle and Diana Ross at the ‘Divas with Heart’ concert in aid of cardiac research, at New York’s Radio City Hall.In 2008 Gladys, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller performed on American Idol to raise money for charity. In March 2010, Randy Jackson mentioned on a new episode of the same show that he is back in the studio with Gladys Knight working on a new album.In 2009 Knight sang “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” and “The Lord’s Prayer” at the funeral service for Michael Jackson.On December 21, 2010, Knight released the single “Settle” on iTunes and Amazon. In September 2011, a new, updated recording of Tom Jones’ 1970 classic I (Who Have Nothing) was released on iTunes and Amazon.In 2013, Knight recorded the Lenny Kravitz written and produced song “”You And I Ain’t Nothin’ No More” for the soundtrack from Lee Daniels’ motion picture The Butler. The song was added to the movie’s soundtrack of older songs by various artists so that the producers had a song to compete in the Best Song from a Motion Picture category at the Academy Awards.Gladys will celebrate her 70th birthday in May of 2014. She is currently working on tracks for a new album, to be released sometime in 2014.Knight has been married four times and has three children. In 1960, she married her high school sweetheart, James Newman. They had one son, James “Jimmy” Newman (1962–1999). She retired from the road to raise their child while The Pips toured on their own.In 1963, after having her only daughter, Kenya, Knight returned to recording with the Pips in order to support her family.In the early 1960s, Gladys, James, and the Pips moved to Detroit, Michigan. Knight and her family lived on Sherbourne in Sherwood Forest, then an upscale neighborhood on Detroit’s West Side. She also resided on LaSalle for a time. Her children attended Gesu Catholic Grade School.James and Knight divorced in 1973. In 1974, Knight married producer and Blackground Records founder Barry Hankerson, who is the uncle of the late R&B singer Aaliyah, in Detroit. Around 1977, they relocated to Atlanta. (The Pips, however, remained in The Motor City.) The couple had one son, Shanga Hankerson, and divorced in 1981.Knight married motivational speaker Les Brown in 1995, but they separated and divorced in 1997. Also in 1997, she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, following her son and daughter.Knight has been married four times and has three children. In 1960, she married her high school sweetheart, James Newman. They had one son, James “Jimmy” Newman (1962–1999). She retired from the road to raise their child while the Pips toured on their own. In 1963, after having her only daughter, Kenya, Knight returned to recording with the Pips in order to support her family. In the early 1960s, Gladys, James, and the Pips moved to Detroit, Michigan. Knight and her family lived on Sherbourne in Sherwood Forest, an upscale neighborhood on Detroit’s West Side. She also resided on LaSalle for a time. Her children attended Gesu Catholic Grade School. Newman and Knight divorced in 1973. In 1974, Knight married producer and Blackground Records founder Barry Hankerson, who is the uncle of the late R&B singer Aaliyah, in Detroit. Around 1977, they relocated to Atlanta. (The Pips, however, remained in Detroit.) The couple had one son, Shanga Hankerson, and divorced in 1981. Knight married motivational speaker Les Brown in 1995, but they separated and divorced in 1997.Previously a Baptist, in 1997 she was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, following her son and daughter. She had occasionally teased LDS Church president, the late Gordon B. Hinckley, that his flock needs to inject some “pep” into their music. Knight married William McDowell in 2001. They have sixteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.In 2017, Knight helped raise $400,000 for the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County. The April 22nd event was held at the Palace Theatre and was co-hosted by Carol Anne Riddell and Alan Kalter.

Written by Dianne Washington

Jason Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. (a member of the hip hop collective Ruff Ryders) Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block Records. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records. Jadakiss has also released three studio albums with the most recent being The Last Kiss (2009). Recently he has been releasing mixtapes and plans to release his fourth studio album Top 5, Dead or Alive in 2014.By age 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle rapper. He and some of his friends were given the opportunity to compete in the “Jack the Rapper Competition” in Florida, where Jadakiss had been noticed for his battle rap ability. He met Dee and Wah of the Ruff Ryders (then a management company), and began hanging out and battling outside of the Ruff Ryders’ studio where artists such as DMX made their first hits.Jason Phillips founded the rap group The Warlocks in 1994 with friends, Sheek Louch and Styles P. They later signed to Bad Boy Entertainment, where it was suggested that they change their name simply to “The LOX”, which came to stand for Living Off eXperience.[citation needed] They made their first appearance on The Main Source’s 1994 LP Fuck What You Think on the track “Set it Off.”The group, especially Jadakiss, developed a close relationship with The Notorious B.I.G., during which time Jadakiss was taken under Biggie’s wing. The LOX’s first hit was the tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. called “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa” (the B-side to Puff Daddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You”) in 1997. In 1998, the LOX released Money, Power & Respect. Though the record was successful, eventually going Platinum, The LOX grew unhappy with Bad Boy Records and Puffy’s glossy, radio friendly production. Following this album, they left the label to sign with Ruff Ryders Entertainment.

Written by Dianne Washington

André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name André 3000 (formerly known as André), is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of hip hop duo Outkast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. As an actor, Benjamin has made appearances in a number of TV series and films, including Families, The Shield, Be Cool, Revolver, Semi-Pro, Four Brothers, and the leading role of Jimi Hendrix in All Is by My Side. In addition to music and acting, Benjamin has also been an active entrepreneur. In the spring of 2008, he launched a clothing line called Benjamin Bixby. He has also been an advocate for animal rights. He is also known for his work on the Cartoon Network animated series Class of 3000.In 2013, Complex included Benjamin on its list of the 10 best rappers of the 2000s. In 2015, Billboard included Benjamin on its list of the 10 Greatest Rappers of All Time.Benjamin was born in Atlanta, Georgia the only child of Sharon Benjamin-Hodo (d. 2013), a single mother who sold real estate, and Lawrence Harvey Walker (d. 2014), a collections agent. He is of African-American and Native American descent. Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, East Point, Georgia and Bankhead, Georgia, he attended Sarah Smith Elementary School, Sutton Middle School, Northside High School and Southwest DeKalb High School.In high school, Benjamin (who was then performing as “Andre”) met Antwan “Big Boi” Patton. Benjamin and Patton teamed up to form Outkast. Shortly after graduating from high school, the duo was signed to the Atlanta-based LaFace label and released their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, in 1994. Buoyed by the success of the single “Player’s Ball”, the album went platinum by the end of the year and Outkast was named Best New Rap Group of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards. On their next two albums, ATLiens and Aquemini, Outkast experimented with their sound by adding elements of trip hop, soul, and jungle. The albums were also influenced by a return to traditional black music genres, funk being the prime example. With Outkast’s portrayal of themselves as out-of-place extra terrestrials in ATLiens, “the funkadelic, futuristic, and seemingly unfamiliar, weird, or eccentric persona projected by André 3000 creates the chance to transcend the more pronounced characterizations of gangstas and pimps so regularly assumed by black men rap artists.” Outkast’s distinctive southern “player” style is combined with these Afrofuturistic elements to create a new, unique space for their brand of rap within popular culture. Benjamin’s lyrics in particular took on a more surreal, space-age tinge. Within the time of his second and third albums, Benjamin took up the guitar, painting, and a new relationship with singer Erykah Badu. Outkast’s fourth album, Stankonia, introduced Benjamin’s new alias André 3000 (largely to distinguish himself from Dr. Dre and his new persona after the end of his relationship) and increased the group’s crossover appeal with the single “Ms. Jackson”, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written in the aftermath of Benjamin’s breakup with Badu and was a fictionalized account of the disintegration of their relationship. In 2002, Outkast released a greatest hits album, Big Boi and Dre Present… OutKast, which contained three new tracks. One track, “The Whole World”, won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Later that year, Benjamin participated in the Dungeon Family group album, which saw a number of prominent Atlanta-based hip-hop groups combine into a supergroup. In 2002, André 3000 was referenced on the song “Till I Collapse” by Eminem, who considered him one of the best rappers ever.In 2003, Outkast released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album which highlighted the differences in the musical styles of the group’s two members. Benjamin’s half of the album, The Love Below, garnered the most attention from mainstream audiences, with the popular singles “Hey Ya!” and “Roses”. The album’s fourth single and video (Benjamin’s third), “Prototype”, was released shortly after. Big Boi’s Speakerboxxx spawned the top ten hit “The Way You Move” and the relatively successful “Ghetto Musick”. The Love Below was, unlike Speakerboxxx, an exercise in funk, jazz, and alternative music, featuring sung vocals from Benjamin (instead of rapped). Rolling Stone compared Benjamin to an indie-rock Little Richard” on Outkast’s 2003 Number 1 international hit ‘Hey Ya!” and later declared the hit one of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, In 2006, Outkast released their sixth album as a group, Idlewild. The album served as a soundtrack to the group’s musical film Idlewild. The film centered on life in a 1930s setting and the album took influences from music of that era, particularly blues. Benjamin had a few rapped verses on the album, including on the first single “Mighty O”, but mostly stuck with singing as he had on The Love Below. The album actually postponed the release of the theatrical Idlewild, as Andre 3000 and Big Boi were concentrated more on the production of the music than the movie. In an odd turn of events, the movie was finished before the album was, and because of that, the movie was postponed about a year. This was because the crew of Outkast and its associates’ had developed the idea of creating a movie before the release of one of their early albums, Aquemini. Thus, when it finally came time to collaborate as a group on the movie, they had most of the details workout, including a script, as stated by Andre 3000 himself in an interview he had conducted with Billboard in 2006.In January 2014, it was announced that Outkast would be reuniting to celebrate their 20th anniversary by performing at more than 40 festivals worldwide during the spring/summer of 2014, beginning with a headline spot at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California in April.

Written by Dianne Washington

Happy 85th Birthday to Lou Gossett! Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. He is best known for his Academy Award winning role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman, and his role as Fiddler in the 1977 ABC television miniseries Roots. Gossett has also starred in numerous film productions including A Raisin In The Sun, The Landlord, Skin Game, Travels with My Aunt, The Laughing Policeman, The Deep, Jaws 3-D, Wolfgang Petersen’s Enemy Mine, the Iron Eagle series, Toy Soldiers and The Punisher, in an acting career that spans over five decades.Gossett was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York, on May 27, 1936, to Hellen Rebecca (née Wray), a nurse, and Louis Gossett Sr., a porter. He is an alumnus of Mark Twain Intermediate School 239 and Abraham Lincoln High School. His stage debut came at the age of 17, in a school production of You Can’t Take It with You when a sports injury resulted in the decision to take an acting class. Polio had already delayed his graduation.After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1954, he attended New York University, declining an athletic scholarship. Standing 6’4″ (1.93 m), he was offered the opportunity to play varsity basketball during his college years at NYU, which he declined to concentrate on theater. His high school teacher had encouraged him to audition for a Broadway part, which resulted in his selection for a starring role on Broadway in 1953 from among 200 other actors well before he entered NYU.Gossett has been married three times and fathered one son and adopted one son. His first marriage was to Hattie Glascoe; it was annulled. His second, to Christina Mangosing, took place on August 21, 1973. Their son Satie was born in 1974. Gossett and Mangosing divorced in 1975. His third marriage, to Star Search champion Cyndi James-Reese, took place on December 25, 1987. They adopted a son, Sharron (born 1977). Gossett and James-Reese divorced in 1992.Louis is the uncle of actor Robert Gossett who starred on TNT’s The Closer.According to DNA analysis, he is descended, chiefly, from people of Liberia and Sierra Leone.On February 9, 2010, Gossett announced that he was suffering from prostate cancer. He added the disease was caught in its early stages, and he expected to make a full recovery.On July 18, 2016, Gossett cohosted as a guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies’ primetime lineup. Allowed to choose four movies to air, he selected Blackboard Jungle, Lifeboat, Touch of Evil and The Night of the Hunter.

Written by Dianne Washington

Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is best known for being a member of the Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards and broke several sales records.Raised mostly in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill began singing with her music-oriented family during her childhood. She enjoyed success as an actress at an early age, with her older brother Graham Hill, appearing in a recurring role on the television soap opera As the World Turns and starring in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. In high school, Hill was approached by Pras Michel to start a band, which his cousin, Wyclef Jean, soon joined. They renamed themselves the Fugees and released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and the Grammy Award-winning The Score (1996). In the latter record, which sold six million copies in the United States, Hill rose to prominence with her African-American and Caribbean music influences, her rapping and singing, and her rendition of the hit “Killing Me Softly”. Hill’s tumultuous romantic relationship with Jean led to the split of the band in 1997, after which she began to focus on solo projects.The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) remains Hill’s only solo studio album. It received massive critical acclaim, showcasing a representation of life and relationships and locating a contemporary womanist voice within the neo soul genre. The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and has sold approximately eight million copies there. It included the singles “Doo Wop (That Thing)” (also a number one), “Ex-Factor” (became her biggest solo hit in UK), and “Everything Is Everything”. At the 41st Grammy Awards, the record earned her five awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. During this time she won numerous other awards and became a common sight on the cover of magazines.Soon afterward, Hill dropped out of the public eye, dissatisfied with the music industry and suffering with the pressures of fame. Her last full-length recording, the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002), sharply divided critics and sold poorly compared to her first album and work with the Fugees. Hill’s subsequent activity, which includes the release of a few songs and occasional festival appearances, has been sporadic and erratic. Her behavior has sometimes caused audience dissatisfaction; a reunion with her former group did not last long. Her music, as well as a series of public statements she has issued, has become critical of pop culture and societal institutions. Hill has six children, five of whom are with Rohan Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley. In 2012, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion for failure to pay federal income taxes, and in 2013, served a three-month prison sentence.In May 2015, Hill canceled her scheduled concert outside Tel Aviv in Israel following a social media campaign from activists promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. She said she had wanted to also perform a show in Ramallah in the West Bank but logistical problems had proved too great. Hill stated: “It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans.”Hill contributed her voice to the soundtrack for What Happened, Miss Simone?, a 2015 documentary about the life of Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist. Hill was originally supposed to record only two songs for the record, but ended up recording six. She also served as a producer on the comp alongside Robert Glasper. Hill said of her connection to Simone: “Because I fed on this music … I believed I always had a right to have a voice. Her example is clearly a form of sustenance to a generation needing to find theirs. What a gift.” NPR critically praised Hill’s performance on the soundtrack, stating: “This album mainly showcases Lauryn Hill’s breadth and dexterity. Not formally marketed as Hill’s comeback album, her six tracks here make this her most comprehensive set of studio recordings since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998.”In April 2016, Hill hosted and headlined what was billed as the inaugural Diaspora Calling! festival at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. The festival’s purpose was to showcase the efforts of musicians and artists from around the African diaspora. But the following month, Hill was approximately 1 hour late (not 2 hours and 20 minutes as previously reported) for her show at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta. Moments after the less than 90 minute show ended, she said her driver had gotten lost and she could not help that. Less than 48 hours later, after a large backlash from her fans on Twitter, she took to her Facebook page and stated she was late for the concert because of certain needs, including her need to “align her energies.”

Written by Dianne Washington

Pam Grier was born on this date in 1949. She is an African American actress.Pamela Suzette Grier was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the daughter of Gwendolyn Sylvia Samuels, a homemaker and nurse, and Clarence Ransom Grier, who worked as a mechanic and Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother. Because of her father’s military career, her family moved frequently during her childhood, to various places such as England, and eventually settled in Denver, Colorado, where she attended East High School.While in Denver, Colorado she appeared in a number of stage productions, and participated in beauty contests to raise money for college tuition toward Metropolitan State College. She moved to Los Angeles, California in 1967, where she was initially hired as a receptionist at the American International Pictures (AIP) Company. Director Jack Hill discovered her. She was cast in The Big Doll House (1971), and The Big Bird Cage (1972). While under contract at AIP, she became a staple of early 1970s blaxploitation movies, playing attractive, bold, assertive women, beginning with Coffy (1973). In his review of Coffy, film critic Roger Ebert noted that Grier was an actress of “beautiful face and astonishing form” and that she possessed a kind of “physical life” missing from other actresses.Grier subsequently played similar characters in the AIP films Foxy Brown (1974), Friday Foster, and Sheba, Baby (both 1975). With the demise of blaxploitation Grier appeared in smaller roles until the 1980s. She played a prostitute in Fort Apache the Bronx (1981), a witch in Something Wicked this Way Comes (1983), and Steven Seagal’s detective partner in Above the Law (1988). She made guest appearances on Miami Vice, Martin, Night Court and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, and also had a recurring role in the TV series Crime Story between 1986 and 1988. She also appeared on Sinbad, Preston Chronicles, The Cosby Show, The Wayans Brother Show, and Mad TV. In 1994, Grier appeared in Snoop Dogg’s video for Doggy Dogg World. In the late 1990s Grier was a cast member of the Showtime series. She again appeared in 1997 with the title role in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. As of 2004 she appears in the cable television series The L Word as Kit Porter and occasionally guest-stars in such television series as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (where she is a recurring character). From 2000 to 2008 she dated marketing executive, Peter Hempel. In 2010 Grier began appearing in a recurring role on the science fiction series Smallville as the villain Amanda Waller. Also in 2010 she wrote her memoir, “Foxy: My Life in Three Acts” with Andrea Cagan.In 1998 Grier was engaged to music executive Kevin Evans, but the engagement ended in 1999. From 2000 to 2008 she dated marketing executive Peter Hempel. She also dated basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, comics Freddie Prinze, Richard Pryor, and Soul Train host, Don Cornelius.She received her Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2011. That same year, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Langston University. She started the Pam Grier Community Garden and Education Center with the National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum. She lives in Colorado.

Written by Dianne Washington