Bill Duke (1943- )

October 27, 2018 
/ Contributed By: Lexis Withers

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Bill Duke

Courtesy Greg2600 (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Filmย directorย andย actorย (William) Bill Duke was born on February 26, 1943 in Poughkeepsie,ย New York to Ethel Douglas Duke and William Duke Sr. After earning his A.A. degree from Dutchess Community College, Duke became interested in the performing arts while attending Boston University inย Massachusetts, although he initially enrolled as a pre-med student. He eventually majored inย theaterย there, graduating in 1966, and then earned a M.A. degree in fine arts from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1968. Duke later enrolled in the American Film Institute (AFI).

Duke began his career as an actor in New York City theaters like The Public Theater and New Federal Theater, performing in plays such as LeRoi Jones’ย Slave Shipย andย Melvin Van Peeblesโ€™ musicalย Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death. Dukeโ€™s first movie role came in 1976 when he portrayed a fierce young Black Muslim revolutionary named โ€œAbdullah Mohammed Akbarโ€ inย Car Wash. Dukeโ€™s television directorial debut came in 1982 when he directed episodes ofย Knots Landing,ย Falcon Crest, andย Flamingo Roadย for Lorimar Productions.

Duke’s most prominent and critically-acclaimed television work, however, has been his direction of teleplays for the PBS series American Playhouse includingย The Killing Floor,ย A Raisin in the Sun, andย The Meeting, a 90-minute drama that depicted an imaginary meeting betweenย Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.ย andย Malcolm X. During the 1980s, Duke amassed more than 100 television directing credits, including more than 70 episodes of roughly 20 television series such asย Miami Vice,ย Dallas,ย Crime Story,ย Cagney and Lacey, and Hill Street Blues. Duke directed his first feature film in 1990, a film adaptation ofย Chester Himes‘s novel A Rage in Harlem. Duke went on to direct many other films includingย Deep Cover,ย Sister Act 2,ย Hoodlum, andย Deacons for Defense.

In 2004, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Duke to the California Film Commission, which works to enhance the economic climate of the state by keeping film industry jobs in California. Duke also works with non-profit and charity organizations such as Educating Young Minds, an organization that helps inner-city students excel at school and in life. Duke is the recipient of numerous awards including the AFIโ€™s Lifetime Achievement Award, theย NAACPโ€™s Special Award for Outstanding Achievement, SCLCโ€™s Drum Major for Justice Film Award, and a Cable TV Ace Award. President Bill Clinton appointed Duke to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In 2008, Bill Duke established The Duke Media Foundation as a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit corporation. The Foundation provides media training for grade school and high school children in conjunction with the Educating Young Minds not-for profit learning center.ย  Duke is married to Sheila Moses, has two children, Ethel and William, and lives in the Los Angeles area.

About the Author

Author Profile

Lexis Withers was born in Tacoma, Washington and has moved around the neighboring areas including Seattle growing up. She is currently a student at the University of Washington majoring in Sociology with a minor in diversity. She plans on starting my own organization to encourage youth, specifically black youth, in inner cities to talk about their mental and emotional health and to set up different programs within the organization to promote good mental health and how to reach out for help when it is needed. Her dad and his family are predominantly from Memphis, Tennessee and Olive Branch, Mississippi. Growing up and listening to my grandparentโ€™s stories on what it was like growing up in the deep south in the late 1920s and 1930s made me realize how strong they truly are. Lexis hopes to share their stories as well as others to encourage black youth that they are going to make it in this world even when society tells them otherwise.

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Withers, L. (2018, October 27). Bill Duke (1943- ). BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/duke-bill-1943/

Source of the Author's Information:

โ€œBill Duke Biography (1943-),โ€ Film Reference,ย http://www.filmreference.com/film/23/Bill-Duke.html; โ€œThe American Black Film Festival: 10 Facts About Bill Duke,โ€ Black Enterprise, May 12, 2014,ย https://www.blackenterprise.com/the-american-black-film-festival-10-facts-bill-duke/; โ€œHustling A Hollywood Career – Bill Duke [FULL INTERVIEW].โ€ YouTube, Sept. 4, 2014,ย https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJQCBDngNEY.

Further Reading