People, Locations, Episodes

Frederick O’Neal, Stage, and Media Arts Advocate born

Frederick O'Neal

Frederick Douglass O'Neal was born on this date in 1905. He was a Black stage, film, and TV actor/director who organized and led theater and arts groups.

Born in Brooksville, Mississippi, O'Neal may have had his most significant effect on the stage and media industry as a union leader.  1964 he was president emeritus of the Actors' Equity Association and Associated Actors and Artists of America.

O'Neal was also a major figure in the black theater in New York City and London, where he founded and organized several theater companies and cultural organizations. The American Negro Theater, which O'Neal co-founded, started many careers, including Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier.

O'Neal's feature credits include Elia Kazan's “Pinky” (1949), Richard Brooks' “Something of Value” (1958), “Anna Lucasta” (1958), and Ossie Davis's “Cotton Comes to Harlem” (1970). O'Neal was also a regular on the 1960s cop sitcom, “Car 54, Where Are You?” Frederick Douglass O’Neal died on August 25, 1992.

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