film director; writer; actor; producer
Personal Information
Born on February 6, 1957, in Chicago, IL; son of Robert and Shirley (a postal worker; maiden name, Jenkins) Townsend; married Cheri Jones, 1990. children: Sierra, Skylar.
Education: Attended Illinois State University, William Patterson College, and Hunter College; studied acting with Stella Adler.
Career
Worked with Experimental Black Actors Guild and Second City, Chicago, mid-1970s; worked with Negro Ensemble Company, acted in Off-Broadway productions, and performed at local comedy clubs, New York City, late 1970s-early 1980s; film appearances include Cooley High, 1975; Streets of Fire, 1984; A Soldier's Story, 1984; American Flyers, 1985; Odd Jobs, 1985; Ratboy, 1986; Hollywood Shuffle, 1987; The Mighty Quinn, 1989; That's Adequate, 1990; The Five Heartbeats, 1991; The Meteor Man, 1993; B.A.P.S., 1997; The Tax Man, 1998; television appearances include The Parent 'Hood, 1995-; Mercenary II: Thick & Thin, 1997; Jackie's Back!, 1999. Co-wrote, directed, and produced Hollywood Shuffle, 1987 and The Five Heartbeats, 1991; directed Raw, 1987, The Meteor Man, 1993, and B.A.P.S., 1997.
Life's Work
Filmmaker Robert Townsend knows fully the responsibility he has taken on in pursuing his chosen profession: ''I understand the effect films and movies leave on peoples' lives," he explained to Allison Samuels in the Los Angeles Times. ''They affect the way we dress, comb our hair, even the way we decorate our living rooms. That's powerful stuff, and you have to treat it accordingly." Whereas fellow filmmakers Spike Lee and John Singleton have used the medium to address social injustice and the pervasive anxiety felt by the African American community--often by depicting harsh and disturbing scenes of violence and racism--Townsend has sought to rid African Americans of a constraining ''slave mentality" by exposing and exploding African American stereotypes perpetuated by the white-dominated film industry.
In place of those cardboard images, Townsend provides his audience with characters who are neither ''black" nor ''white," but individuals whose actions and aspirations are not necessarily determined by racial imperatives. He also seeks to offer his audience positive values, self-esteem, heroes, a mythology--a chance to dream. ''People need inspiration, especially black people," he told Interview's Veronica Webb. ''If you go to the movies, you have nothing that validates that you are good, you are special, you are creative, you are talented, that you can do whatever you want to do. So I've got to fight."
Townsend was not always a fighter, however. Born in 1957, he grew up on the west side of Chicago where, as he told Marilyn Marshall in Ebony, ''I ran from a lot of gangs." Safe inside his home, Townsend watched hours of television, his imagination stimulated by entertainers as varied as comedian Red Skelton and actor Sidney Poitier. His creative ability and sense of self-worth were also spurred by his divorced mother, who raised her four children to believe they could accomplish anything. ''Because of that," Townsend explained to Clifford Terry in the Chicago Tribune, ''I never believed in limitations."
Better Comedian Than Basketball Player
Townsend dreamed of becoming a basketball player; but growing up in a neighborhood that produced NBA stars Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre, he fared only well enough to make the team and then sit the bench. To pass the time, he did impersonations, making his teammates laugh--much to the chagrin of his coaches. Heeding his fellow players' observation--''Townsend, you can't play--but you're funny"--as he recalled in an interview with Donna Brit for the Washington Post, Townsend decided to sharpen his comedic skills and pursue acting instead of athletics.
At the age of 16 he joined Chicago's Experimental Black Actors Guild, becoming its youngest member. Through this group Townsend learned the skills of acting and directing and gained his first screen role, a small part in the 1975 production Cooley High. ''My most memorable line was 'Somebody should kick his ass,"' he told the Chicago Tribune's Terry. ''What a way to come onto the silver screen! I remember my mother going to the movie, saying, 'He's up there cursin'. "' During this period Townsend also studied improvisation with the renowned comedy troupe Second City, but after graduating from high school he deferred to his mother's wishes and attended college at Illinois State University, where he studied radio-TV communications. He subsequently transferred to William Patterson College in New Jersey, commuting to New York City to work with the Negro Ensemble Company and study acting with famed dramatic coach Stella Adler. Townsend finally ended his academic career at Hunter College in New York, dividing his time between studying, acting in Off-Broadway productions, and performing stand-up routines in comedy clubs.
In 1982 Townsend headed west to California with his friend Keenen Ivory Wayans, who later went on to create Fox-TV's hit comedy series In Living Color. For the first time in his life, Townsend was confronted with limitations. Although after a few years he was able to secure small roles in mainstream productions such as Streets of Fire, A Soldier's Story, and American Flyers, for the most part Townsend was offered the typical fare available to aspiring African American actors: pimps, slaves, and servants. ''I remember the first time I was offered a part," he related to Terry, ''I was happy and called my mother. 'Mom, I'm playing a pimp. I get to beat this prostitute up.' She said, 'Oh, that's a good part, as long as you're working.' But by the time I auditioned for pimp No. 32, I realized I was an actor and should be able to play as many roles as possible."
What Townsend had discovered was the separate and unequal sphere into which African Americans were shunted in Hollywood; they were never just actors and directors who made films for audiences, but African American actors and directors who made films for African American audiences. Townsend wanted to change this perception, as he explained in Dollars & Sense: ''Whites sit down after dinner and say, 'Hey honey, let's go see a black film tonight.' The problem is that the films made by black filmmakers cross the spectrum, just like all other films do. We need to be looked at in that way. Until then, the money will be spread thin to the various films. We will all lose." This sense of loss can be appreciated, Townsend and others believe, if the film industry and audiences perceived a film like The Godfather strictly as an Italian-American film, or Dances with Wolves as primarily a Native American film. The relevance of these films clearly extends beyond their social milieu; to pigeonhole them according to a specific culture would be to obscure their universal themes and access.
Film Parodied Hollywood's ''Black" View
''There ain't nothin' to it but to do it," a character says in Townsend's first film, 1987's Hollywood Shuffle, which he co-wrote with Wayans. That line perhaps became a mantra for the filmmaker during his discouraging apprenticeship in Hollywood. A satirical and pointed look at Hollywood's treatment and view of African Americans, Hollywood Shuffle, which was filmed intermittently over two and a half years, cost $100,000 to make--paltry by Hollywood standards. The initial $60,000 came from money Townsend had saved from acting jobs; the remaining $40,000 he charged on every MasterCard and Visa he could obtain. He paid his actors minimum film wages; when he couldn't pay them, he filled their cars with gas on his charge accounts. He finished the film during a whirlwind 14-day span, shooting scenes in one take, then moving on to avoid being caught without location permits. When the film was completed, he booked a screening room--on credit--invited every film distribution company in Hollywood, and then signed a deal with Goldwyn studios, which promptly paid off his debts and his actors' remaining wages. Townsend's gamble paid off big time: in the first month after its release, Hollywood Shuffle grossed $850,000. It eventually earned more than $10 million.
The success of Hollywood Shuffle thrust Townsend into the limelight. Comedian and film star Eddie Murphy asked Townsend to direct his 1987 concert film, Raw. The filmmaker also directed the HBO comedy special Partners in Crime, which showcased new comedic talent from around the country. Following Hollywood Shuffle, Townsend was also featured in the 1989 mystery film The Mighty Quinn, playing a free-spirited Caribbean hustler who is a suspect in a murder investigation led by his friend, the local police chief, portrayed by actor Denzel Washington.
Difficulties Remain for African American Filmmakers
Despite the success of his first film, his growing stature in Hollywood, and the emergence of strong films by other African American writers and directors, Townsend had difficulty receiving financial backing for his second feature, The Five Heartbeats. It took four years to make the film; The Five Heartbeats made the rounds of the studios, including Warner Bros., with which Townsend had signed a deal after the success of Hollywood Shuffle. Finally, Twentieth Century Fox agreed to back the film, releasing it in 1991.
The Five Heartbeats is about a fictitious legendary R&B male singing group. The film begins by flashing back to 1965 and then moves forward, following the group through the 1980s. The themes explored as the group and its individual members are depicted include racism, exploitation, drug abuse, and the testing of friendship by the pressures of success. ''The story is a positive look at five young black men with an attempt to break away from any of the negative stereotypes that are tagged to us through the media," Townsend explained to Samuels in the Los Angeles Times, ''Each character is totally different from the other. One might be what most people expect from the black male, while the others take you in completely different directions. I want to show people something they haven't seen before."
Townsend's continued desire to provide audiences, especially African American audiences, with positive universal values and role models was evident in his 1993 film The Meteor Man. The film, in which Townsend played an inner-city high school teacher who is actually an alien with superhuman powers, marked the first time that an African American played a comic-book-type superhero. ''We haven't seen even one movie where the hero is black and he's talking to everybody," he pointed out to Interview's Webb. ''I just want one to cheer for. Like I cheer for Terminator, I cheer for Rambo, I cheer for James Bond. I just want one.... He doesn't have to be super, just a hero."
Following the release of Meteor Man, Townsend produced an hour-long comedy variety series for the Fox network entitled Townsend Television. The show, which debuted in 1993, received many unfavorable reviews from critics. Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote that "It's as a director that Townsend comes up shortest; his timing seems off so that the commercial parodies and movie spoofs tend to creak and wobble." The show floundered in the ratings, and was cancelled before the end of the 1993-1994 season.
Undaunted by the failure of Townsend Television, Townsend debuted a new television series entitled The Parent 'Hood for the WB network in 1995. Starring as a communications professor with a law-student wife and four children, Townsend also co-created and co-produced the show. The Parent 'Hood was a sitcom that focused on the triumphs and challenges faced by an average, middle-class African American family. Critical response to The Parent 'Hood was lukewarm. Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly called the show "super dull," while People reviewer David Hiltbrand found the "structure, the timing and the humor all strictly standard." Despite these criticisms, The Parent 'Hood attracted a loyal audience and entered its fifth season in 1999.
In 1997, Townsend directed and starred in the film B.A.P.S. The film told the story of two black American princesses who leave their native Decatur, Georgia, to audition for a rap video in Los Angeles. They are spotted as easy marks by a con man and soon find themselves unknowingly aiding him in a scheme to cheat his elderly uncle of his millions. However, the girls and the senior citizens become great friends. In 1998, Townsend starred as Peyton Cody in the film The Tax Man. The following year, he appeared as himself in the USA network TV movie Jackie's Back!
Further Reading
Periodicals
- Chicago Tribune, March 10, 1991; March 29, 1991; March 31, 1991.
- Dollars & Sense, January 1992.
- Ebony, July 1987; September 1987.
- Entertainment Weekly, February 3, 1995.
- Interview, February 1991.
- Los Angeles Times, September 9, 1990.
- People, January 30, 1995.
- Washington Post, March 31, 1991, September 11, 1993.
— Rob Nagel and David G. Oblender
