Research Catalog

Title

Oral history interview with Robert Townsend, 21 August 1987 / interviewed by James Briggs Murray.

Author

Townsend, Robert, 1957-

Publication

1987.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Murray, James Briggs
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Oral History Video Documentation Program

Subject

• Townsend, Robert, 1957- > Interviews
• Wayans, Keenan Ivory
• Dee, Ruby
• Davis, Ossie
• Second City (Theater company)
• Negro Ensemble Company
• Hollywood shuffle (Motion picture)
• African American motion picture producers and directors
• African American motion picture actors and actresses
• African Americans in motion pictures
• African Americans in the motion picture industry
• Racism
• Racism in motion pictures
• African Americans > Race identity
• Stereotypes (Social psychology)

Genre/Form

• Interviews.
• Biographies.
• Oral history.

Event (note)

• Recorded on August 21, 1987, at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Oral History Video Documentation Program, New York, N.Y.

System Details (note)

• VHS.

Terms of Use (note)

• Permission required to cite, quote and reproduce; contact repository for information.

Biography (note)

• Robert Townsend is an actor, filmmaker, and writer.

Call Number

Sc Visual VRA-123

OCLC

NYPG95-F277

Author

Townsend, Robert, 1957- Interviewee

Title

Oral history interview with Robert Townsend, 21 August 1987 / interviewed by James Briggs Murray.

Imprint

1987.

Description

1 videocassette (21 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in.

Original Version

Reproduction. Originally produced: New York, N.Y. : Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, 1987. 1 videocassette ; 3/4 in. (U-matic).

Event

Recorded on August 21, 1987, at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Oral History Video Documentation Program, New York, N.Y.

Summary

The oral history interview with Robert Townsend briefly documents his childhood in Chicago. Townsend began as the "class clown" and, later, encouraged by his mother, he began to study acting first with Chicago's Second City and then in NYC with the Negro Ensemble Company. His theatre work led to collaboration with Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee in the 1978 production of "Take it from the top". Not being a "song-and-dance man" excluded Townsend from Broadway and triggered his move to LA where be began a career in film. Film earnings and a charge tab of $40,000.00 funded "Hollywood shuffle" (produced in 1987 with partner, Keenen Ivory Wayans). "Hollywood shuffle" is based on their experiences as aspiring African American actors in Hollywood; its philosophical tenet is that the portrayal of African American characters in film is neither balanced nor authentic; rather, it is one-sided and stereotypical. Townsend challenges others to break this trend and, rebutting comparisons to other African American filmmakers, claims that there is no competition, just a "starving market". He wants to encourage others to eliminate racial stereotypes through portrayal of integrity and wide range.

System Details

VHS.

Terms Of Use

Permission required to cite, quote and reproduce; contact repository for information.

Biography

Robert Townsend is an actor, filmmaker, and writer. Born on Feb. 6, 1957, in Chicago, Ill., he co-wrote, co-starred, produced and directed "Hollywood shuffle"--a satire on African American stereotyping and racial attitudes of the film industry in general and Hollywood in particular.

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Added Author

Murray, James Briggs. Interviewer

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Oral History Video Documentation Program.

Research Call Number

Sc Visual VRA-123 Service copy.

Sc Visual VRB-2010 Original of: Sc Visual VRA-123.