His film work includes performances in six Oscar Nominated films: Denis Villeneuve’s, Dune; Greta Gerwig’s, Lady Bird; Steven Spielberg’s, Lincoln; DenzelWashington’s, Fences, Kenneth Lonergan’s, Manchester by the Sea and Stephen Daldry’s,Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Noteworthy television work includes the FX/HULU series, Devs; Halle Berry’s directorial debut, Bruised for Netflix; HBO’s, The Newsroom; HBO Films’ Everyday People presented at Sundance Film Festival in 2004; and William Duke’s PBS American Playhouse film of A Raisin in the Sun, starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. His six Broadway shows include two Tony winners for best Revival of a Play, A Raisin in the Sun, 2014 and Fences, 2010. His last Broadway appearance was as Torvald in the heralded replacement cast of A Doll’s House Part 2 led by Julie White in 2017. Off-Broadway his roles include Pontius Pilate in the LAByrinth Theatre Company’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. He has been part of several productions at Kennedy Center, most notably as a member of the acting company for Kenny Leon’s historic Century Cycle Readings in 2008. Stephen delivered the commencement address and was conferred Juilliard’s Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, May 19, 2017. Nearly 50 years earlier he auditioned for and became a member of Group l, Juilliard Drama Division. John Houseman cited Stephen’s work as a student in his memoir, Final Dress. Stephen completed his conservatory training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA) where he served as president of the student government. He recently received UNCSA’s Honorary Doctorate when he delivered their 2020/2021 commencement address. During his 30 years as faculty for the Department of Theatre and Dance, State University of New York at Buffalo, he served periods as Head of Performance and Department Chair. He retired Professor emeritus in 2016. In an eloquent obituary for playwright August Wilson, Michael Feingold of the Village Voice wrote, “To think of the great characters and scenes in August’s plays is to think of an epic parade of great African American actors who have seized their moment to make theater history: James Earl Jones and Mary Alice in Fences, Charles S. Dutton in Ma Rainey and The Piano Lesson, S. Epatha Merkerson confronting him in the latter, Roscoe Lee Browne sagely ironic in Two Trains Running, Stephen McKinley Henderson oozing malice in Jitney, Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Lisa Gay Hamilton glaring a skyful of weaponry at each other in Gem of the Ocean.”
Michele is a Tony nominated award-winning actress, director and producer, and also a Coach, healer and teacher. She has taught acting at UNCSA in North Carolina, American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, Actors Theater of Louisville, Cal Arts, David Kagen’s on-camera Film Acting Studio in Los Angeles and currently at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She also served on Theater Panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, New York and New Jersey State Arts Councils, the Princess Grace Foundation and the Board of directors for Theater Communications Group.
Pauletta is also a Trustee at Spelman College, a global leader in the education of women of African descent, and one of the founding and executive members of The Brain Trust of Cedars-Sinai – a group that raises awareness and funds for brain care and research. She and her husband both have been involved with the organization for over 20 years. Their family has also established the Pauletta and Denzel Washington Gifted Scholars Program — a community outreach program that enables undergraduate, graduate and medical students, with an interest in science, to work on exciting research projects underway in neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai. More than 25 Washington Scholars have completed the program and many of them have continued their work at prestigious institutions throughout the United States and United Kingdom.
She became a household name when she portrayed Claire Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” earning numerous honors and awards for over two decades. More recent roles in television and film include appearances as Carol on NBC’s “This Is Us;” Diana Dubois on the Fox TV series “Empire;” Dr. Woods-Trap in Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Peabody Award-winning series “David Makes Man” on the OWN Network; Libba Gardner in Pixar’s Academy Award-winning animated feature, “Soul;” Grandmother Journey in the Netflix holiday musical “Jingle Jangle;” and Dr. Jones in “Between the World and Me” on HBO Max.
His community leadership has benefited organizations such as: City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission, Milwaukee Art Museum, Preserve Our Parks, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Milwaukee County Landmark Commission, Coalition for Historic Preservation and Economic Development, Historic Preservation Committee of Historic Milwaukee, Inc. Previously he served as President of the Board of Directors and Interim Executive Director for the Milwaukee County Historical Society, where he oversaw the completion of a $9 million dollar restoration and capital campaign, along with facilitating its designation as a Smithsonian affiliate. He has an extensive record of operationally supporting work at executive levels for both corporate and nonprofit entities in a variety of senior level positions in Brazil, Spain, and England for Motorola, Inc., a U.S. based multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, IL, including Latin America Strategist, Director of Business Development, and President/General Manager of Motorola INOSET in Brazil.
She was born in the Kremlin because her mother, Sarah Maldoror, was studying film in Moscow at the time and was taken to the city’s best clinic for the birth. She spent her early childhood in Rabat and Algiers while her father, Mário Pinto de Andrade, one of the founders and first President of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was being hunted by Salazar’s Portuguese police and army. At the age of 10, she settled in France where she was educated and lives.
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