Robert Hooks

There is no more prestigious honor for an American film than being selected by the National Film Registry (NFR) as a classic film event to be preserved forever in American Film Heritage and Archives. I congratulate all those films with the good fortune of being recently selected by the NFR, including my colleague and NEC inaugural director Michael Schultz, and his amazing classic film “Cooley High” starring Glynn Turman and his deeply talented acting ensemble in the film. But, what takes my personal enthusiasm to a whole ‘nova-leva’ was the long-awaited selection of Lonne Elder III’s breathtakingly superb film classic “Sounder”. So, I acknowledge and congratulate Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Eric Hooks, Yvonne Jarrel, Taj Mahal, Janet Maclaughlan, George Kennedy, Martin Ritt, and Robert Radnitz… for making the NFR ‘cut’!

“One of the proudest moments of my life and career was this amazing and honored experience I shared with my #1 son (and great creative artist) Kevin Hooks. And we both made ‘Father/Son history at the graduation event at Morehouse College, one of the most important Black Colleges in America!”

Fun Flashback let’s go back a while. Here are eight of my amazing and talented celebrity colleagues as we show off some serious ‘Afros’ for this celebrated EBONY COVER!

Leslie and I were both nominated for the Tony Award that year. How long ago you ask… just look at the price of the Jet back then.

Robert Hooks (sitting on a stool), Leslie Uggams, and company in the stage production Hallelujah, Baby! – (Friedman-Abeles)

Robert Hooks, Garrett Morris, Alan Weeks, Kenneth Scott, and Winston DeWitt Hemsley in the stage production Hallelujah, Baby! – FRIEDMAN-ABELES PHOTOGRAPHS: [LEGACY COLLECTION]

Remembering my longtime and dear friend Maya Angelou, Here’s a FUN Flashback Friday photo from the set of “Trouble Man” (circa 1971). Surprising me on the set for my Birthday is, from left to right, the supremely brilliant Maya Angelou, director Ivan Dixon, actor Lawrence (Al) Cook, me as “Trouble Man/Mr. T” and that most regal thespian Roscoe Lee Browne. The cake and the surprise visit were arranged by Maya and Roscoe. Between us and the crew- the cake was devoured in less than a half-hour.

Robert (Bobby Dean) Hooks – Here’s a throwback photo of me, little Bobby Dean, at 10 or 11 years old, and Captain of the Steven’s Elementary School Safety Patrol. I was happy when this school photo sitting was over so I could get back to my homeroom and jive around with my classroom buddy Roberta Flack. Those were some very fun times. 

My mother at age 14. Isn’t she something? The photo was restored by ‘Dexterity Images’ by artist Dexter Bunn.

My Mother and Me…

Bertha (Bert) Ward Hooks, Elizabeth Ward Eatmon, and Alma Powell are looking fabulous! – Newport Place, NW, Washington, DC. 

My siblings and me (guess who’s ‘me’) posing for the Sunday photographer in front of our railroad flat in the Foggy Bottom ghetto of our nation’s capital (circa 1939.) Yes! that’s me in front holding my wee-wee cause I had ‘to go’. But they needed the shot so my two brothers were holding the back of my dress (yes! dress! it was hand-me-down time, and that’s all there was.) All my siblings are gone now (bless their beautiful souls), but what a life we shared growing up together!  

Me and my amazing siblings (l to R) Charles Edward, Bernice, James Walter, Caroleigh, and Me (the baby!) These guys helped raise me, up from the streets of ‘the foggy bottom’! Love you all,..may you continue to rest in glorious peace…

Here’s a Thursday throwback I’ll share. Standing on my hotel room balcony looking across the court, anxiously waiting to see three of my favorite cousins in all the world. Three amazing women I hadn’t seen since I was a small boy, and they were energetic youngsters growing up on a farm, who taught me everything I needed to know about life on a farm in deep south North Carolina. At the time I was on location in Wilmington North Carolina shooting a big television movie and had called them to see if they could come to the film set- so we could hang out and catch up after so many decades… And LOOK!..there they were walking across the courtyard, my three adorable cousins Lula, Mamie, and Roxie, the Ward sisters! We hugged and smooched and had a fabulous mini-family reunion all day that day! Here we are pictured outside in the hotel courtyard, Roxie standing with me, Lula (who has since sadly passed), and Mamie sitting. It was one of the most exciting times for me- sitting with them and their husbands, laughing and sharing wild kid’s stories of my young summer vacation days with them on my Uncle Joe and Aunt Essie’s tobacco farm. These are three great women pictured with me in this photo. 

“This is my amazing and caring brother James Walter Hooks and me. Growing up in DC’s Foggy Bottom, my four siblings, and our angel of a Mom, Mae Bertha (Bert), and I, lived (despite having very little material) an astoundingly beautiful and healthy life! ‘Jimbo’ was my running buddy and true mentor, and gave me all the protection I needed to whether any difficulty as a youngster on the DC streets! Though he’s gone from this plane, I’m sending him all the love I have (and will always have) for him, and to give him my eternal thanks, (and my other amazing four siblings, all gone from us now)) for guiding me into and through my own fabulous experience on this earth!“