Roger Guenveur Smith is an American actor, director, and writer. Smith was born in 1959, South Carolina Charleston, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and Sherman Smith, a judge. He attended Occidental College in Los Angeles and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut where he successfully auditioned for the Drama School, switching from his pursuit of a graduate degree in History. Additionally, Smith studied at the Keskidee Arts Centre in London, England. Smith received an Obie Award for his signature solo performance in A Huey P. Newton Story on stage. In film, Smith has had a... successful collaboration with Spike Lee on several works. He has appeared in films such as School Daze, Do The Right Thing, King of New York with Christopher Walken, Malcolm X, Get On The Bus, Eve's Bayou, He Got Game, and Summer of Sam. During the 1990s, he had a recurring role on A Different World and Homicide: Life on the Street. In 1996, he starred in the self-written and produced A Huey P. Newton Story, a one-man performance based on the life of Black Panther Party founder Huey P. Newton. A performance was later filmed by Spike Lee and released in 2001.
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