Robert Hooks
Kevin Hooks holding Sardi’s characterization of his dad. Sardi’s (New York City).
Don Bevin
AWARDS
1966 – Theatre World Award (1965–66 ) for “Where’s Daddy?” (The Billy Rose Theatre)
1979 – American Black Achievement Award – Ebony Magazine
1982 – Emmy Award for Producing (1982) Voices of Our People: In Celebration of Black Poetry (KCET-TV/PBS)
1966 – Tony Nomination, Lead Role in a Musical for Hallelujah, Baby
1985 – Inducted into The Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, recipient Oscar Micheaux Award (1985)
1986 – March 2nd declared Robert Hooks Day by the City of Los Angeles, Mayor Tom Bradley
1987 – Excellence in Advertising and Communications to Black Communities from CEBA (Excellence in Advertising and Communications to Black Communities)
2000 – Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa honorary degree, Bowie State University
2000 – May 25th declared Robert Hooks Day in Washington, D.C.
2005 – Beverly Hills/Hollywood Chapter NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievement
2005 – Beverly Hills/Hollywood Chapter NAACP Trailblazer Award to the Negro Ensemble Company
2005 – Trailblazer Award – City of Los Angeles
2006 – The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL), Lifetime Achievement Award (Dallas)
2007 – The Black Theatre Alliance Awards / Lifetime Achievement Award
2015 – Living Legend Award (2015) National Black Theatre Festival
2018 – October 18th proclaimed Robert Hooks Day by Mayor Muriel Bowser, Washington, D.C.
2018 – Hooks is entered into The Congressional Record by the Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, September 4, 2018, Vol. 164
2018 – Visionary Founder and Creator Award – D.C. Black Repertory Company on its 47th Anniversary
2024 – the International Black Theatre Festival’s SIDNEY POITIER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
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“The Negro Ensemble Company, which he co-founded in the mid-’60s, was cranking out brilliantly trained black actors, writers, producers, dancers, designers, and other technicians destined for careers in the larger entertainment world. We had never seen this kind of Black arts movement since the Harlem Renaissance, and Robert’s imprint was all over it.”
– Quincy Jones –
“Without his brilliant vision, commitment and connections, his producing skills, his celebrity there would have been no NEC, no Denise Nicholas, no Lonne Elder, no Rosalind Cash or Douglas Turner Ward, no Michael Schultz…no Denzel Washington. We owe that and more to Robert Hooks.” -Denise Nicholas-
“Robert Hooks, Sr. was at the center of the contemporary Black Theatre movement. He, with close friends, drew the circle which became the Center. A fine actor, he was able to set aside his own thirst to be on the stage, to allow younger and less acclaimed actors chances to step upon the boards and unveil their talents to the world.” -Maya Angelou-
“In recounting Robert Hooks’ past accomplishments, it becomes clear that he should be actively treasured as a resource today. Everything Robert Hooks has to say is about our engagement with culture for our autonomy and survival as theater artists and as a people.”
-Herbert Allen- Chicago-based playwright & TV producer
“Emory University of Atlanta now has the many, many boxes, and electronic file materials of my entire professional life and career to place in their University archives. I’m thrilled my complete and extensive materials will be held, displayed, and studied at such a prestigious institution of higher learning.”
Filming at WACO Theater Center. 2023
Original canvas creation by artist Temi Wynston Edun. Presented to me at the 47th Anniversary of the DC Black Repertory Company, (DCBRC.) By the DCBRC Alumni Association and the Multi-Mediia Training Institute, at the Lincoln Theatre on October 18th, 2018. Mayor Muriel Bowser, declaring Robert Hooks Day in DC. And DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton bestowing a Congressional Record plaque and honoring the DCBRC for its artistic achievements, what a celebration for the company and for our hometown! Seen in the painting are members of the original theatre staff (from L to R in ‘horseshoe’ fashion) Vantile E, Whitfield, Eric Hughes, Ed Murphy, Don Sutton, Carolyn Jones, Louis Johnson, Jimmy Hooks, Bernice Reagon Johnson. Carolyn Smith, Petey Grenne, Darrell Sabbs, Mike Malone, and Honoree DCBRC Founder me, Robert Hooks in the center!… The 47th DCBRC Anniversary celebration and its amazing events were something to behold! Temi Wynston Edun’s artwork hangs proudly in my Toluca Lake home.
2024 International Black Theatre Festival.
Monday, July 29th, 2024
NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED
(c) All Rights Reserved iforcolor.org (Dale Shields)
How would you like to be remembered?
“The main thing I want people to remember about me is that my career and my success are more than myself, which is really the title of my upcoming book. What I’ve done, the legacy that I leave, is what I’ve done for others, what I’ve been able to do for other artists in this industry, Black artists in this industry. Acting is fine, and the credits are nice and all that, but that’s not why I’m in this industry. That’s not why I have been successful in this industry. It’s because I’ve done things for other people. And I’ve enjoyed doing things for other people, starting all the way back to the Group Theatre Workshop with those kids I got off the streets of New York when they didn’t have any place to go. And now their careers are blooming. That’s what I want to be remembered by.”
– Robert Hooks
