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26:51

Civil Rights and Acting Legend Ruby Dee.

Actress Ruby Dee. Together with her husband Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, has performed on stage, screen and television for 30 years. In the early part of her career, she and her husband lived by staging church readings of black authors like Langston Hughes and Phillis Wheatley. One of their best-known projects was the 13-part PBS series, "With Ossie & Ruby," which showcased black artists like Louis Armstrong, Della Reese and Max Roach.

Interview
09:25

Ned Beatty on His Many Roles.

Character actor Ned Beatty. He spent 15 years in theater before making his film debut in "Deliverance." Since then, he's played everything from a sinister executive in "Network" to a clownish sheriff in the Burt Reynolds film "Stroker Ace." In all, Beatty has acted in 37 feature films, and 44 television movies or series.

Interview
03:15

Women and Sex in Recent Movies.

Critic-at-Large Laurie Stone looks at the new sexism as typified in the female leads in the films "Fatal Attraction," "The Big Easy" and "Baby Boom," three of the most successful fall films.

Commentary
27:22

Ingenue Barbara Cook

The musical theater actress walked away from Broadway, only to return to the stage as a cabaret singer. Cook was recently featured in a concert version of Follies and stars in a new musical revue.

Interview
09:58

Remembering Moms Mabley

Moms Mabley was a regular performer at Harlem's Apollo Theater, where actress Clarice Taylor saw her perform. Taylor, best known for her role in The Cosby Show, wrote and stars in a new play about the comedian's life.

Interview
10:01

Resisting Hollwood's Demand to "Be Blacker"

Film actor, writer, and director Robert Townsend satirizes his experiences as an African American in Hollywood in the new film, Hollywood Shuffle. He says that television commercials have given him more opportunities than movies to play diverse roles.

Interview
27:59

The Pointed Irreverence of British Comedy

Graham Chapman came out while working on the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. He discusses his activism to support gay rights, as well as the many times the television program lampooned conventional masculinity.

Interview
54:40

Reconsidering Marilyn

Feminist writer Gloria Steinem has a new book about actress Marilyn Monroe. Steinem was initially disgusted by Monroe's portrayal of some onscreen. Now she has a more sympathetic view toward the late actress's talent and vulnerability.

Interview
27:31

A Life in the Theater

Actress Lynn Redgrave, known for numerous stage productions and the film Georgy Girl, comes from a family of actors. She joins Fresh Air to discuss her craft and how both her weight and famous last name shaped her career.

Interview
50:12

Actor and Producer John Houseman

John Houseman has had an illustrious career as an actor and producer of film, television, and radio. He is known for bringing Shakespeare to diverse audiences via Broadway, the Federal Theater Project, and film adaptations of the playwright's work.

Interview
35:43

Actress Nancy Marchand

Marchand talks about the differences between acting onstage and in television, the challenges of raising children while working, and the intersection of her celebrity and personal life.

Interview
39:12

A Conversation with "A Couple of Blaguards"

Scholar Frank McCourt and his brother, actor Malachi McCourt, grew up poor in Ireland before finding success in the United States. Both brothers were voracious readers and were able to find success without a high school education. They wrote and perform together in a new, autobiographical play.

31:50

Few Roles for Black Actresses

Esther Rolle played a maid in the television show Maude, a role which she hoped would subvert the racist tradition of mammy characters typically given to African American actresses. Rolle now works mostly in theater, and is featured in a production of Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding.

Interview
22:14

Leslie Uggams Discuses Her Career in Theater and Television.

Leslie Uggams is an actress and singer known for her roles in the television miniseries "Roots" and "Backstairs at the White House" and the t.v. show "Sing Along with Mitch." She is also well-known for work in musicals and on Broadway. Uggams discusses her career and life including being a child actor, a member of a youth gang, and singing versus acting. Uggams is currently performing in Philadelphia.

Interview
37:28

From Yiddish Theater to the Silver Screen

Actor Molly Picon grew up in the Yiddish theater. Her husband Jacob Kalich helped manage her career. She explains how performing for children who survived the Holocaust affected her, and her later experiences in film.

Interview

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