Kevin Hooks | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1958-09-19)September 19, 1958 (age 67) Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, director |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent | Robert Hooks |
Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an Americanactor, and a television andfilm director; he is notable for his roles inAaron Loves Angela andSounder, but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV'sThe White Shadow.
Kevin Hooks was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania,[1] the son of Yvonne, a state employee, andRobert Hooks, a director and actor who starred in many films in the 1970s. Kevin's nickname among his friends is "King Royal".
Hooks lived inSouthwest, Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s. He attendedPotomac High School inOxon Hill,Maryland.[citation needed]
When he was still 10, Kevin starred in the acclaimedJ.T., a 1969 episode of theCBS Children's Hour about a sensitive Harlem youth who befriends a sick cat. Written byJane Wagner, it was aPeabody Award winner.
Hooks appeared in the hit 1972 movieSounder as the pre-teen elder son ofPaul Winfield's andCicely Tyson's characters, providing the point of view of the film. He held the story together as a boy thrust into being "man of the family" on a sharecropping farm during the Depression. The adults were nominated for Best Actor and Best ActressOscars respectively for their performances.
Hooks won a role in the last film directed byGordon Parks Jr.,Aaron Loves Angela (1975). Set in contemporary Harlem at New York's grittiest and most depressing ebb, that film was regarded as a "blaxploitation" version ofRomeo and Juliet, using African-American and Puerto Rican ethnicity in lieu of medieval families. While playing a withdrawn teenager, Hooks created electricity opposite the 15-year-oldIrene Cara.Jose Feliciano in a bit part and a little comic relief lighten the grimness,[editorializing] as the young lovers encounter nothing but intolerance, and the secret location where they meet becomes the site of a dangerous drug deal. The movie was popular locally[citation needed] and praised by fans,[who?] but widely considered[weasel words] a weakly plotted failure.
Hooks went on to portray high school basketball player Morris Thorpe in the successful TV series about high school basketball,The White Shadow, which ran from 1978 to 1981. Morris Thorpe was reportedly voted[weasel words] one of America's 100 favorite characters in the history of television.
In 1986, he starred in the short-livedABC sitcomHe's the Mayor.
In 1991, Hooks directed the filmStrictly Business, and also appeared in one scene oppositeKim Coles. He directedWesley Snipes inPassenger 57,Cynthia Rothrock andStacy Keach inIrresistible Force,Laurence Fishburne andStephen Baldwin inFled, and alsoPatrick Swayze inBlack Dog. Hooks worked as a director and producer on the seriesPrison Break. He also directed two episodes from the first season ofLost, "White Rabbit" and "Homecoming".
In 2000, he directed Emmy-winning Disney Channel original movie,The Color of Friendship, which was based on a true story.
In 2003, Hooks revisitedSounder. He directed ABC'sWonderful World of Disney's TV remake of the film, withPaul Winfield, his co-star from the original, playing a different role.
Hooks directed the following episodes ofPrison Break:
He directed the filmPrison Break: The Final Break (2009) based on the series.
Hooks is credited as the director of the 2017Madiba, a three-partBET television special about the life ofNelson Mandela and the struggle of theANC which with the leadership of Mandela, famously succeeded to overthrow the regime ofapartheid inSouth Africa, starringLaurence Fishburne in the role of Mandela.
In 2020, Hooks directed an episode ofThe Good Lord Bird.[2]
