Anna Deavere Smith on the First Call to Prayer

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH is an American actress, playwright, university professor and author. She has performed in film and television as well as on stage. She currently plays Gloria Akalitus on Showtime's hit series, Nurse Jackie. She is probably most recognizable in popular culture as Nancy McNally, the National Security Advisor on NBC's former hit, The West Wing. Ms. Smith has been featured in several films, including The American President, where she played Press Secretary to Michael Douglas's President, and in The Human Stain, directed by Robert Benton. She appeared in Dave, Rent and Rachel Getting Married. In her stage work, it has been said that she created a new form of theater. Ms. Smith's work in the theater has been an ongoing, steady pursuit. Looking at current events from multiple points of view, Ms. Smith's theater combines the journalistic technique of interviewing her subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance. She has written two books, Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind and Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines, which is based on her observations of time she spent in Washington, D.C. Other books include publications of her plays, Fires in the Mirror, Twilight, House Arrest, and Piano. Her articles and writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, O Magazine, O Home, Elle, The Atlantic, A Public Space, Essence, Fortune, and The Drama Review. Ms. Smith is also University Professor at New York University, where she is appointed in the Tisch School of the Arts. She has several honorary degrees and medals of recognition -- among them from Juilliard, Barnard, Northwestern, Smith, Bates, Bryn Mawr, Wesleyan, Holy Cross, Cooper Union, Radcliffe College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Book Anna Deavere Smith at Speakers.com. www.speakers.co...