LisaGay Hamilton
*Lisa Gay Hamilton was born on this date in 1964. She is a Black actress and film director, and producer.
From New York City and raised in Long Island, she graduated in fine arts from New York University; she studied drama at the Julliard School, where she earned a Master’s Degree. Hamilton’s first paid acting role was as a spear carrier in the Joseph Papp Public Theatre production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Still, she soon moved on to appear opposite Kevin Kline and Andre Braugher in "Measure for Measure" at the New York Shakespeare Festival.
She also starred in the original Broadway Company of August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." She earned the Ovation nomination for Best Actress for her work in Athol Fugard's play "Valley Song" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. That performance also won her an Obie Award, the Clarence Derwent Award, and a Drama Desk nomination. Hamilton made her film debut in "Krush Groove." She’s gone on to appear in "Reversal Of Fortune," "True Crime," "Jackie Brown," and "Beloved." Hamilton’s TV guest appearances include "Homicide: Life On The Street," "New York Undercover," and "Law & Order."
She was a regular in the TV series "The Practice" from 1997 to 2003. LisaGay's television film credits include "A House Divided" and "Hamlet." Lisa recently produced and directed the award-winning HBO documentary Beah: A Black Woman Speaks. Recently she was in "Ten Tiny Love Stories" and "Nine Lives." She will appear very soon in John Sayles's film, "Honeydripper" and another film called "Tourist."
In the fall of 2010, Hamilton took a faculty position in the School of Theater for the California Institute of the Arts.
