Auditions for new movie will be held by Street Line. The movie titled a Teenage story is said to be a Bronx tale about teens living in the inner city. Movie not yet rated. Filming starts in May. Casting for this movie starts Saturday January 19, 2019. Movie release date next year. More info to follow.
Darryl Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player, most noted for his days with the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career. His nickname, “Chocolate Thunder”, was bestowed upon him by Stevie Wonder. He was known for his powerful dunks, which led to the NBA adopting breakaway rims due to his shattering the backboard on two occasions in 1979.
Dawkins averaged double figures in scoring nine times in his 14 years in the NBA, often ranking among the league leaders in field-goal percentage. He also played in the NBA Finals three times as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On the flip side, Dawkins set an NBA record for fouls in a season (386 in 1983–84), and he never quite lived up to the expectations that had been heaped upon him when he was drafted out of high school.
At Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Dawkins was “probably the best high school basketball player ever and one of the best people I ever met,” his prep coach, Fred Pennington, told Inside Sports. The team won the state championship in 1975, a year after the ABA’s Utah Stars had plucked Moses Malone right out of Petersburg (Virginia) High School.
Hoping to follow in Malone’s footsteps, the 18-year-old Dawkins renounced his college eligibility and applied for the 1975 NBA draft as a hardship candidate. The Philadelphia 76ers made him the fifth overall pick, behind David Thompson, David Meyers, Marvin Webster, and Alvan Adams. According to the New York Daily News, when Dawkins made his debut with the 76ers, New York Knicks guard Walt Frazier took one look and said, “I bet his teachers called him ‘Mr. Darryl.'”
With his size, speed, and touch, Dawkins was expected to take over the league. But he handled the expectations in typical fashion. “When I walked into the league, they wanted me to be Wilt Chamberlain right away—without one minute of college ball,” he told The Daily News. “I can’t be Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt is much taller than me.”
A raw talent who needed time to develop, Dawkins languished on the Sixers’ bench for his first two seasons. As a rookie in 1975–76 he played in only 37 games, averaging 2.4 points in 4.5 minutes per game. The next year he played a limited role during the regular season but began to emerge during the playoffs. The Sixers advanced all the way to the NBA Finals that year, and Dawkins was called upon to help battle Portland’s Bill Walton. The Trail Blazers won the series in six games, but Dawkins earned respect among the Philadelphia coaching staff with 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in the postseason.
In the 1977–78 season Dawkins finally found a regular role, coming off the bench for nearly 25 minutes per game. Now a robust 20 years old, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds and ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage at .575. With a club that included Julius Erving, George McGinnis, Lloyd Free, and Doug Collins, the Sixers made another solid postseason run, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Bullets in six games.
Prior to the 1978–79 season Philadelphia traded McGinnis to the Denver Nuggets for Bobby Jones and Ralph Simpson. The move was made in part to clear space for Dawkins on the Sixers’ front line, which also included 6-foot-11 Caldwell Jones. Over the next three seasons Dawkins and Caldwell Jones split time at the center and power forward positions, and Dawkins had the most productive stretch of his career. In 1979–80 he averaged 14.7 points and a career-high 8.7 rebounds, helping the Sixers back to the NBA Finals, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games.
In a game against the Kansas City Kings at Municipal Auditorium on November 13, 1979, Dawkins threw down such a massive dunk that the backboard shattered, sending the Kings’ Bill Robinzine ducking. Three weeks later he did it again, this time at home against the San Antonio Spurs at the Spectrum. A few days after that the NBA ruled that breaking a backboard was an offense that would result in a fine and suspension.
Dawkins named the first backboard-breaking dunk “The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam.”
He named other dunks as well: the Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look Out Below, the In-Your-Face Disgrace, the Cover Your Head, the Yo-Mama, the Spine-Chiller Supreme, and the Greyhound Special (for the rare occasions when he went coast to coast). The 76ers also kept a separate column on the stat sheet for Dawkins’s self-created nicknames: “Sir Slam”, “Dr. Dunkenstein”, and “Chocolate Thunder.”
At one point, Dawkins claimed to be an alien from the planet Lovetron, where he spent the off-season practicing “interplanetary funkmanship” and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy lived.
In the 1981 season Dawkins produced a .607 field-goal percentage, second in the NBA to Artis Gilmore’s .670. Dawkins averaged 14 points and 7.2 rebounds for the year, but Philadelphia failed to return to the Finals. The club met the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in seven games.
The 76ers suffered another postseason disappointment in 1982 when they reached the Finals but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Frustrated with the team’s inability to handle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sixers management began to shake up the center position. First Philadelphia traded Dawkins, who missed nearly half of the 1981–82 season campaign with injuries, to the New Jersey Nets for a first-round draft pick. The Sixers then sent Caldwell Jones and a first-round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Moses Malone who would help to capture the NBA title for Philadelphia the following year.
t age 25, Dawkins joined a Nets club that included Albert King, Buck Williams, and Otis Birdsong. He had two productive seasons in a Nets uniform, but injuries severely impacted the rest of his career. In the 1982–83 season Dawkins averaged 12.0 points and shot .599 from the floor, ranking third in the league in field-goal percentage behind Gilmore and Steve Johnson. The next season, he poured in a career-high 16.8 points per game on .593 field-goal shooting and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per contest. Dawkins also set a dubious NBA record that year when he committed 386 personal fouls for the season. He committed one more personal foul during his career than Michael Jordan, despite playing nearly 350 fewer games.
The 1983–84 campaign was Dawkins’ last full season. Injuries limited him to 39 games in 1984–85. Midway through the 1985–86 season, he slipped in his bathtub and injured his back. At the time, Dawkins was averaging 15.3 points and shooting .644 from the floor, but the injury sidelined him for 31 of the Nets’ final 32 games. Dawkins tried to come back over the next three seasons with the Nets, the Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons, but back problems limited him to 26 games during those seasons. He attempted a comeback in 1994, attending Denver Nuggets training camp, and again in 1995 with the Boston Celtics. Dawkins also spent several seasons overseas after his NBA career, playing in the Italian league for Torino, Olimpia Milano and Telemarket Forli.
Following his NBA career, Dawkins had a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, followed by a season spent with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association in 1995–1996. During this season, the Skyforce’s games against the Florida Beach Dogs were broadcast nationally by ESPN, as the Beach Dogs included another former NBA player, Manute Bol. In 2005, Dawkins was one of several former NBA players to audition for an analyst position with ESPN, as part of the network’s reality series Dream Job.
He was the head coach of the American Basketball Association’s Newark Express. He was also the player/coach of the Winnipeg Cyclone, a team in the short-lived International Basketball Association in 1999-2000.
He was the head coach of the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League until they folded.
On August 20, 2009, Lehigh Carbon Community College (located in Schnecksville, PA) announced that Dawkins would be the head coach of their men’s basketball team for the upcoming 2009–2010 season.
On April 7, 1986, he appeared at WrestleMania II as a guest judge for a boxing match between Mr. T (with Joe Frazier, The Haiti Kid) versus Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton and Lou Duva).
Dawkins appears in NBA Ballers and the NBA 2K video games as a reserve member of the 1980s Legends East Team.
Dawkins’ autobiography Chocolate Thunder: The Uncensored Life and Times of Darryl Dawkins (co-authored with Charley Rosen) chronicles his on- and off-the-court life as an NBA star. In the book, Dawkins chronicled some of the racism he encountered during his NBA career, playing alongside 76ers superstar Julius Erving, and his off-the-court experiences with drugs, partying and women.
In September 1986, Dawkins eloped with Kelly Barnes of Trenton, New Jersey. The following autumn, the two were planning to divorce when she committed suicide on November 1, 1987, at her parents’ home in New Jersey; Darryl was in Utah with his team at the time. In 1988 Dawkins married a former Nets cheerleader, Robbin Thornton; they divorced after 10 years. Dawkins later remarried; he and his wife, Janice, had three children: Nick, Alexis, and Tabitha, a daughter from Janice’s previous relationship who has Down syndrome.
In 1999, Saturday Night Live named Dawkins the “Man of the Millennium” in a Weekend Update sketch.
Dawkins died on August 27, 2015, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 58. The Lehigh County coroner’s office announced that an autopsy would be performed on August 27; but according to a statement released by Dawkins’ family, the cause of death was a heart attack.
Written by Dianne Washington
Mary Jane Blige (born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, model, record producer, and actress. Starting her career as a backing singer on Uptown Records in 1989, Blige released her first album, What’s the 411?, in 1992. She has released 13 studio albums, eight of which have been certified multi-platinum.
Blige is known as the Queen of Hip Hop Soul, and has won 9 Grammy Awards from her 31 nominations. My Life is among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and Time’s All-TIME 100 Albums. She received a Legends Award at the World Music Awards in 2006, and the Voice of Music Award from performance rights organization ASCAP in 2007.
As of 2013, Blige has sold 75 million records worldwide. Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B/Hip-Hop artist of the past 25 years. In 2017, Billboard magazine also lists her 2006 song “Be Without You” as the most successful R&B/Hip-Hop song of all time, as it spent an unparalleled 15 weeks atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and over 75 weeks on the chart. In 2011, VH1 ranked Blige as the 80th greatest artist of all time. Moreover, she is ranked number 100 on the list of “100 greatest singers of all time” by Rolling Stone magazine. In 2012, VH1 ranked Blige at number 9 in “The 100 Greatest Women in Music.”
Blige starred in the 2009 Tyler Perry box-office hit I Can Do Bad All By Myself and appeared in the film Rock of Ages (2012). She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her musical contribution to the film The Help. In 2017, she starred in the period-drama film Mudbound, directed by Dee Rees, for which she received Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song nominations.
In partnership with the Home Shopping Network (HSN) and Carol’s Daughter, Blige released her “My Life” perfume. The perfume broke HSN records by selling 65,000 bottles during its premiere. The scent went on to win two FiFi Awards, including the “Fragrance Sales Breakthrough” award.
Blige was born in Savannah, GA, moving with her mother and older sister to the Schlobam housing projects in Yonkers, NY, as a young girl. Her rough life there produced more than a few scars, physical and otherwise. Blige dropped out of high school in her junior year, spending time doing her friends’ hair in her mother’s apartment and hanging out.
When she was at a local mall in White Plains, NY, she recorded herself singing Anita Baker’s “Caught Up in the Rapture,” into a karaoke machine. Her stepfather passed the recording on to Uptown Records’ CEO Andre Harrell. He was impressed with Blige’s voice and signed her to sing backup for local acts like Father MC. In 1991, Sean “Puffy” Combs took Blige under his wing and began working with her on her debut album, “What’s the 411?” Combs and his stylish touches added to Blige’s unique vocal style, created a stunning album that bridged the gap between R&B and rap in a way that no female singer had before.
Her 1995 follow-up, “My Life,” again featured Combs’ handiwork, stepping back from its urban roots and featuring less of a rap sound and making up for that with its subject matter. “My Life” was full of ghetto pathos and Blige’s own personal pain and rocky relationship with artist K-Ci Hailey, which likely contributed to the raw emotions on the album.
The period following the recording of “My Life” was also a difficult time professionally for Blige as she severed her ties with Combs and Uptown, hired Suge Knight as a financial advisor, and signed with MCA. 1997’s “Share My World” marked the beginning of Blige’s creative partnerships with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The album was another hit for Blige and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. Critics soured somewhat on its more conventional soul sound, but Blige’s fans seemed undaunted.
By 1999, the fullness and elegance of her new sound appeared more developed, as Blige displayed a classic soul style aided by material from Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Stevie Wonder, and Lauryn Hill. She made it obvious that the ghetto and harsh aspects of her music were gone, while the sensitive power remained. That power also helped carry the more modern-sounding 2001 release, “No More Drama,” a deeply personal collective effort musically with more of Blige’s songwriting than anything before. “No More Drama” allowed listeners to see her musical path that produced an older, wiser, but still expressive artist.
Currently Blige is touring and acting. She started her own label, MJB Records. To many, Blige is more than the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul. Through all of her life, she was determined to find and maintain her own musical voice. By doing so, she has become one of the most successful R&B/hip hop writer/performers in the country, and has paved the way for many others who have followed her course.
Blige has received notable awards and achievements. In 2010, she was ranked 80th on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Artist of All Time. Blige was listed as one of the 50 most influential R&B singers by Essence. Rolling Stone magazine ranked My Life at number 279 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included on Time’s list of the 100 Greatest albums of All Time. Alternately called the “Queen of R&B” for her success in the realm of R&B, Blige has amassed ten number one albums on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. Blige is also the only artist to have won Grammys in the R&B, hip hop, pop, and gospel fields.
As an actress, Blige received the Breakthrough Performance Award at the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival for her role in Mudbound.
Written by Dianne Washington
LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), widely known by her stage name Donna Summer, was an American singer, songwriter, and painter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach No. 1 on the United States Billboard 200 chart and charted four number-one singles in the U.S. within a 12-month period. Summer has reportedly sold over 140 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. She also charted two number-one singles on the R&B charts in the U.S. and a number-one in the U.K.
Summer earned a total of 32 hit singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in her lifetime, with 14 of those reaching the top ten. She claimed a top 40 hit every year between 1975 and 1984, and from her first top ten hit in 1976, to the end of 1982, she had 12 top ten hits (10 were top five hits), more than any other act during that time period. She returned to the Hot 100’s top five in 1983, and claimed her final top ten hit in 1989 with “This Time I Know It’s for Real”. Her most recent Hot 100 hit came in 1999 with “I Will Go With You (Con Te Partiro)”. While her fortunes on the Hot 100 waned through those decades, Summer remained a force on the U.S. Dance/Club Play Songs chart over her entire career.
While influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, Summer became the lead singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. Joining a touring version of the musical Hair, she left New York and spent several years living, acting, and singing in Europe, where she met music producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.
Summer returned to the U.S., in 1975 after the commercial success of the song “Love to Love You Baby”, which was followed by a string of other hits, such as “I Feel Love”, “Last Dance”, “MacArthur Park”, “Heaven Knows”, “Hot Stuff”, “Bad Girls”, “Dim All the Lights”, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” (duet with Barbra Streisand), and “On the Radio”. She became known as the “Queen of Disco”, while her music gained a global following.
Summer died on May 17, 2012, from lung cancer, at her home in Naples, Florida. In her obituary in The Times, she was described as the “undisputed queen of the Seventies disco boom” who reached the status of “one of the world’s leading female singers.” Giorgio Moroder described Summer’s work with him on the song “I Feel Love” as “really the start of electronic dance” music. In 2013, Summer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In December 2016, Billboard Magazine ranked her as the 6th most successful dance artist of all-time.
Born in the Dorchester community of Boston, she was born LaDonna Adrian Gaines, one of seven children raised by devout Christian parents. She sang in church, and as a teenager joined a rock group called The Crow. At 18, she left home and school to take up a supporting role in the Broadway musical, “Hair.” The show moved to Germany shortly afterwards and she eventually became a German resident.
She settled in Munich, performed in German versions of several musicals, including “Godspell” and “Show Boat” and also performed with the Viennese Folk Opera. In 1971, she released her first solo recording in Europe titled “Sally Go ‘Round The Roses.” She then recorded the song that would make her an international breakout star, “Love to Love you Baby” in 1975.
She married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer (“Summer” is an Anglicization of his last name) in 1972 and gave birth to daughter Mimi the following year. She performed in various musical and did jobs in studios and theaters for several years, including with the pop group Family Tree from 1974-75.
While singing back-up for Three Dog Night, she met producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, signed a contract and issued her first album, “Lady of the Night,” which included the European hit, “The Hostage.” The couple divorced in 1976.
In 1978, she collaborated with the R&B Pop group the Brooklyn Dreams for the song “Heaven Knows.” While at the session recording the single, she met Bruce Sudano. The duo began a romance that culminated in their July 16, 1980, marriage, and later the birth of daughters Brooklyn and Amanda. Today, Mimi and Amanda sing alongside their mother and Brooklyn has done some acting. Summer is now a grandmother of three.
Summer dealt with controversy both professionally and personally in her career. In the early 1980s, she reportedly suggested that AIDS was a divine punishment from God. Her songs were banned for a number of years in some gay establishments. Summer has long denied such allegations, and finally took legal action against a newspaper which printed the rumors during a review of a concert. In 1991, during the height of the Gulf War, Summer’s song “State Of Independence” was banned from US radio play.
Her talent and musicianship (aided by Giorgio Moroder) are embraced as the epitome of the disco era. On September 27, 2007, Summer, was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Summer died on May 17, 2012, at her home in Naples, Florida, aged 63. The non-smoker had been diagnosed with lung cancer, which she believed was caused by inhaling toxic fumes and dust after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
Summer was survived by her husband, Bruce Sudano; her daughters Mimi (with ex-husband Helmut Sommer), Brooklyn Sudano, and Amanda Sudano; her siblings, Ricky Gaines, Linda Gaines Lotman, Mary Ellen Bernard, Dara Bernard, and Jenette Yancey; and son-in-law Rick Dohler.
Written by Dianne Washington
Tyrese Gibson (born December 30, 1978), also known mononymously as Tyrese, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, author, television producer, former fashion model and MTV VJ. He played Joseph “Jody” Summers in Baby Boy, Angel Mercer in Four Brothers, Roman Pearce in the Fast and the Furious series and Robert Epps in the Transformers film series. After releasing several albums, he transitioned into films, with lead roles in several major Hollywood releases.
Gibson was born and raised in Watts, Los Angeles, California. His mother, Priscilla Murray Gibson (née Durham), raised him and his three older siblings as a single parent after Gibson’s father, Tyrone Gibson, left. Gibson attended Florida A&M University. However, he has stated that this is inaccurate and he never attended FAMU.
Gibson’s career began when he auditioned for a Coca Cola commercial at the suggestion of his high school music teacher. An appearance in a 1994 Coca-Cola advertisement, singing the phrase “Always Coca-Cola”, led to bigger fame. It led him to other appearances for Guess and Tommy Hilfiger.
In early 1998, Gibson was signed as an artist to early RCA Records. Afterwards, he released his debut single “Nobody Else”. It quickly rose on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #36. On September 29, 1998, he released his self-titled album Tyrese at the age of 19. It debuted on the Billboard charts at #17. In late 1998, Gibson became the new host of the weekday music video show MTV Jams on MTV and a host and VJ for the channel. Afterwards, he released the second single from the album “Lately”. It made it to #56 on the Billboard charts. Then, the album’s third single and highest charting single “Sweet Lady” became the album’s biggest hit, reaching #9 on the R&B charts. The single earned Gibson a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. The album eventually went on to be certified Platinum. Gibson along with singers Ginuwine, RL of Next and Case were featured on the soundtrack of The Best Man on the single “The Best Man I Can Be”.
On May 22, 2001, Gibson released his second studio album, 2000 Watts. The first single off the album was “I Like Them Girls,” which reached #15 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album went on to be certified Gold, selling over 500,000 copies. The third single off the album, “Just a Baby Boy,” with Snoop Dogg and Mr. Tan, was featured on the soundtrack to the film Baby Boy, Gibson’s first major acting role.
After RCA Records was disbanded Gibson went on to sign to J Records. There he released his third studio album I Wanna Go There on December 10, 2002. His first single from the album and arguably his most successful single to date “How You Gonna Act Like That” debuted on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #7.
On December 12, 2006, Gibson released his fourth studio album Alter Ego, his first double disc album. It was also his first album in which he debuts his rapping persona. The first single off the album was “One” debuting on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #26. The album itself is considered Gibson’s lowest selling album to date. In 2007, Gibson, Ginuwine and Tank founded TGT.
After taking time from music to focus on his family and his highly successful acting career, Gibson decided it was time to return to music. In 2011, he signed himself and his newly founded label Voltron Recordz to EMI and announced he was working on a new album titled Open Invitation. On August 16, 2011, Gibson released the lead single “Stay”.the music video for the single featured fellow actor, friend and Baby Boy co-star Taraji P. Henson. It peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #11. The second single “Too Easy” featured fellow actor, friend and rapper Ludacris. It peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #38. The third single “Nothing On You” peaked on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at #61. Open Invitation was released on November 1, 2011. It debuted on the US Billboard 200 albums chart at #9, sold 130,000 copies in its first week and has gone on to sell over 400,000 copies. In 2013, the album earned Gibson his third Grammy nomination at the 2013 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album.
In early 2013, it was announced and confirmed after much speculation that Gibson, Ginuwine, and Tank would be releasing their debut collaboration album, to be distributed by Atlantic Records. On April 10, 2013, Gibson announced that he is working on a new album titled Black Rose, expected to be released some time in 2014. It will serve as Gibson’s final studio album. It will be a double album set to be released in the summer of 2015. On July 10, 2015, Black Rose was released and had debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 77,000 copies, making it Gibson’s first number one album of his career.
Gibson rose to prominence as an actor when he starred in John Singleton’s Baby Boy in 2001.
Gibson has a recurring role in two of the highest-grossing film series: The Fast and the Furious and Transformers.
On May 8, 2012, Gibson released his first book, titled How to Get Out of Your Own Way. It went on to be a New York Times best seller. On February 5, 2013, Gibson co-authored his second book along with close personal friend Rev. Run titled Manology: Secrets of Your Man’s Mind Revealed, which also went on to be a New York Times best seller.
Gibson was married to Norma Mitchell from 2007 to 2009, and the couple had one child, daughter Shayla, born July 11, 2007. He married Samantha Lee on February 14, 2017.
Written by Dianne Washington
Regina Alston was born in Bronx, New York in the times before the crack era took the city by storm. She attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School on Daly Avenue in the Bronx. She migrated to Harlem at the age of twelve years old. Her home was located on 128thstreet between Lenox and Fifth avenues. It was there that this shy good girl learned the inner workings of the streets and how to survive in the life. “When I moved to Harlem it was a different world from the one that I was used to. I was no longer sheltered. My mother was a single parent and we didn’t have a whole lot!” By the age of fifteen years old Regina started slinging crack cocaine to support herself and mother. “My mother was really sick. She had fibroid tumors and would bleed for days at a time. She couldn’t work and public assistance was not giving us enough money to survive. I had to do something. I just couldn’t stay broke. My daughter was living with my grandmother and my son was with me. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place”. Regina was arrested in 1996 shortly after her seventeenth birthday. She was charged with assault in the first, second and third degree. “I wasn’t thinking at all. I just flipped out. That was the type of hood that I lived in. I couldn’t let anybody punk me. I guess the worst part about that whole situation was that my mother was charged as my codefendant and convicted for a crime that she didn’t commit.” As a result Regina was sentenced to five years on probation by the Manhattan Supreme Court. “The one thing about the system is that it’s a revolving door. It’s like once you get locked up you get locked up you keep getting locked up.” Regina went on to obtain her GED while attending classes at the YWCA in Harlem. “I had this really great teacher Ms. Giscombe. She actually cared about the students. She was the third teacher to tell me that I was great writer. I didn’t follow up. I had money to make. I took the GED to get my probation officer off of my back about the weed smoke. I never believed that I needed a diploma. Everyone that I knew was getting money on the stoop.” After countless arrests and a battle with drug addiction Regina decided that it was time for a change. “I just had my baby girl and I wanted to raise her by myself. I had to do something right.” Regina sought treatment for her addiction and returned to school. While Regina was attending classes at The College of New Rochelle she met her mentor Vera Edwards of Streetline. “I love Vee like a second mom. She guides me with her wisdom and keeps me encouraged. I know that I can call her about anything and I will always receive the best advice with no judgement”. With Vera’s help Regina was casted into Rodent the Urban Soap Opera and published her first articles on Streetline Video Online News Magazine. During her last two years of college Regina lost her mother to Cancer and her father to a severe heart attack and respiratory infection. “I suffered with depression after my mother died. Alcohol was my escape but I was not going to give up. I knew that my mother would have never wanted that. I had to keep going. I had to push pass the pain. Regina has now fulfilled her course requirements to obtain a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is currently employed in a substance abuse treatment program. Regina has obtained her CASAC-T certification and is giving back in the substance abuse treatment field. “I am focused on my career but writing and acting is my passion in life.” Regina is in the process of writing a book about her life. “ I just want others to know that despite whatever you have been through there is always a rainbow after the rain”.
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, director, and producer. He has received three Golden Globe awards, a Tony Award, and two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for the historical war drama film Glory (1989) and Best Actor for his role as a corrupt cop in the crime thriller Training Day (2001).
Washington has received much critical acclaim for his film work since the 1980s, including his portrayals of real-life figures such as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in Cry Freedom (1987), Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992), boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in The Hurricane (1999), football coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans (2000), poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters (2007), and drug kingpin Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007). He has been a featured actor in the films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and has been a frequent collaborator of directors Spike Lee, Antoine Fuqua and Tony Scott. In 2016, Washington was selected as the recipient for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.
In 2002, Washington made his directorial debut with the biographical film Antwone Fisher.
His second directorial effort was The Great Debaters, released in 2007. Washington’s third directorial effort, Fences, in which he also starred, was released on December 16, 2016, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr., was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He has an older sister, Lorice, and a younger brother. His father, Virginia-born Reverend Denzel Washington, was an ordained Pentecostal minister, who worked for the Water Department and at a local department store. His mother, Lennis, a beauty parlor owner, was born in Georgia and raised in Harlem.
Washington was not allowed to watch movies by his parents, who divorced when he was fourteen. As a youth, he went through a rebellious stage, and several of his friends went to prison. His mother responded to his behavioral problems by sending him to preparatory school.
Washington later enrolled at Fordham University, where he discovered acting and earned a degree in journalism, while studying at Fordham, he came to prominence at the Negro Ensemble Company playing “Peterson” in the Pulitzer Prize winning play ‘A Soldier’s Play.” His first film role was in the 1975 made-for-television movie, “Wilma.” His big break came when he starred in the television hospital drama, “St. Elsewhere.” He was one of a few actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run.
In 1983, Washington married actress Pauletta Pearson, whom he met on the set of his first screen role. The couple has four children, John David, who signed a football contract with the St. Louis Rams after playing college ball at Morehouse, Katia, Olivia and Malcolm. In 1995, the couple renewed their wedding vows in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu officiating.
Washington is known globally for his acting ability; in 1987, after appearing in several minor theatrical films and stage roles, Washington starred as South African anti-apartheid campaigner Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough’s “Cry Freedom,” a role for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1989, Washington won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing a defiant, self-possessed slave in the film “Glory,” in 1992.
He was nominated as Best Actor in a Leading Role in “Malcolm X.” In 1999, he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, “Hurricane.” In 2001, Washington won Best Actor in a Leading Role in “Training Day.” Other film credits include “John and Antwone Fisher” (2002), “Out of Time” (2003), “Man on Fire” (2004), “The Manchurian Candidate” (2004), “Inside Man” (2006), “Deja Vu” (2006), “American Gangster,” and “The Great Debaters” (2007).
On May 18, 1991, Washington was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Fordham University, for having “impressively succeeded in exploring the edge of his multifaceted talent”. In 2011, he donated $2 million to Fordham for an endowed chair of the theater department, as well as US$250,000 to establish a theater-specific scholarship at the school. He also received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Morehouse College on May 20, 2007 and an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania on May 16, 2011.
In 2008, Washington visited Israel with a delegation of African-American artists in honor of the state’s 60th birthday.[60] In 2010, he visited Israel again to meet with his friend, head of the Messianic Jews’ congregation in Haifa.
In April 2014, Washington presented at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Easter Bonnet Competition with Bryan Cranston, Idina Menzel and Fran Drescher, after raising donations at his Broadway show A Raisin in the Sun.
Written by Dianne Washington
Quintin Xavier Drakeford is a new up and coming actor/full time college student/ full time journalist (for multiple websites), as well as a blogger and publicist, who has appeared in Street Line Video epic production titled “Rodent the Urban Soap Opera. He plays the smooth but treacherous character called “Pops” and his dedication to his craft can clearly be seen in episodes 1&2. He also has appeared on the Lenny Matthews Show (LMS Show), a syndicated television show dealing with the social and literary minds of the urban community. When not working as a licensed Care Manager for a reputable drug and mental health program, he spends his time writing novels, screen plays, and poems. You can catch some of his work on the website Q Xavier Publications & ShoTime TV Uncensored. We are looking forward to 2019, because his novels are realistic and full of energy, which reflect his extremely complicated past and near-death experiences. We are looking forward to seeing many good things in the coming months from him. Watch out for the name Quintin Drakeford!
Marshall died Monday night at her Hollywood Hills home. We’ve learned the cause of death was complications from diabetes.
Penny’s first recurring role was playing Myrna Turner on “The Odd Couple,” which was directed by her brother. She also appeared on “Happy Days” with Cindy Williams and they became famous from their spin-off sitcom, “Laverne & Shirley.” It became a monster hit in 1976 and ran for 8 seasons. Her character’s moniker the “L” for Laverne on her sweater — became one of the most famous logos in television.
She was 75
Earl Simmons (born December 18, 1970), professionally known as DMX, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. In 1999, DMX released his best-selling album …And Then There Was X, which included the hit single “Party Up (Up in Here)”. He has been featured in films such as Belly, Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Last Hour. In 2006, he starred in the reality television series DMX: Soul of a Man, which was primarily aired on the BET cable television network. In 2003, DMX published a book of his memoirs entitled, E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX.
Written by Dianne Washington