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    Wren T. Brown

    From Wikipedia - Reading time: 3 min
    Wren T. Brown
    Born
    Wren Terrel Brown

    1964
    Los Angeles, California
    EducationLos Angeles City College and Antioch University Los Angeles
    Occupation(s)Actor, producer, director and co-founder of the Ebony Repertory Theatre

    Wren T. Brown, b. 1964 in Los Angeles, is an American actor, film producer and theatre director and musical director,[1] known for his work in film, television, and voice.[2][3] He is also the co-founder and artistic director of "the first African-American professional Equity theatre company in Los Angeles," the award-winning Ebony Repertory Theatre in Los Angeles with the aim of creating a "world-class professional theatre rooted in the experience of the African Diaspora."[4][5]

    Film acting[edit]

    His film acting has included work in Hollywood Shuffle, co-written by Robert Townsend and Keenen Ivory Wayans in 1987; Forest Whitaker's 1995 Waiting to Exhale, and David Mamet's Edmond in 2007, which he appeared in with William H. Macy.[2][3] But he also also appeared in the drama The Dinner, the comedy dramas The Importance of Being Earnest (1992) and Heart and Souls; the romantic drama Beyond the Lights, the war drama A Midnight Clear; the action drama films Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Biker Boyz and the horror films Hellraiser IV: Blood Legacy and HellBent.[2]

    TV & Voice acting[edit]

    Brown has guest-starred or played recurring roles on The West Wing, The Practice, Frasier, Seinfeld, Charmed, Star Trek: Voyager, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Everybody Hates Chris, Grey's Anatomy and played Whoopi Goldberg's brother Courtney Rae in five episodes of the 2003 television series Whoopi.[2] He provided the voice of Homer Simpson's Black ancestor Virgil Simpson on The Simpsons.[2] He also performed voice work for the Langston Hughes poem The Negro Speaks of Rivers on pianist Billy Childs’ Grammy Award-nominated album I’ve Known Rivers.[6]

    Theatre acting & directing[edit]

    Under his artistic direction, "the Ebony Repertory Theatre has produced award-winning productions including Two Trains Running, Crowns, A Raisin in the Sun, The Gospel at Colonus, and Five Guys Named Moe."[6] As a stage actor, Brown has appeared both on Broadway and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.[6][7] He has also directed theatre for Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre,[1][8]

    Film producer[edit]

    Brown's first feature film production was Boesman & Lena, starring Danny Glover and Angela Bassett in 1999; his second was a concert film of Dianne Reeves’ Grammy Award-winning album, In The Moment: Live in Concert.[6]

    Personal[edit]

    A fourth-generation Angeleno, Brown is the son of jazz trumpeter Troy Brown Jr., and the grandson of actor-comedian Troy Brown Sr., who was also the fifth Black actor to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).[4] His maternal grandmother, Ruth Givens, was a torch singer and dancer in film and at the Los Angeles Cotton Club. His maternal grandfather, Lee Young Sr., was the first black staff musician in Hollywood, in this case for Columbia Pictures in 1946, and the drummer and musical director for Nat King Cole. His great-grandfather, Willis Handy Young, was a musician and the owner of Vaudeville troupe the New Orleans Strutters.[2]

    Married to wife Anne since October 12, 1991. The couple has three children together.[2]

    1. ^ a b "A Ventura County based non-profit professional theatre company is bringing the music of Kander and Ebb to the stage". KCLU. 2023-12-09. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    2. ^ a b c d e f g "Wren T. Brown - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    3. ^ a b "Wren T. Brown - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    4. ^ a b "Ebony Repertory Theatre". www.ebonyrep.org. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    5. ^ "THEATRE CORNER: Wren T. Brown". KPBS Public Media. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    6. ^ a b c d www.osfashland.org https://www.osfashland.org/ErrorMain.html. Retrieved 2023-12-22. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
    7. ^ "Wren T. Brown: Credits, Bio, News & More | Broadway World". www.broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
    8. ^ Rabinowitz, Chloe. "Rubicon Theatre Company to Present Kander & Ebb Musical Revue THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND Directed By Wren T. Brown". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
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