Myers, Lou 1945- (Louis Meyers, Lou Leabengula Myers)

PERSONAL

Full name, Lewis Eddy Myers; born September 26, 1945, in Cabin Creek (some sources cite Charleston) WV; son of Otis Louis Myers and Dorothy Louise (maiden name, Brown) Myers Jeffries; married (divorced); children: Melvin L. Education: West Virginia State Institute, B.S., sociology, 1964; New York University, M.F.A., theatre; also did Ph.D. work.

Addresses:

Agent—Silver Massetti & Szatmary, 8730 West Sunset Blvd., Suite 440, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Manager—The Beddingfield Company, 13600 Ventura Blvd., Suite B, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

Career:

Actor. Tshaka Ensemble Players, founder, director, and organizer. Singer and dancer; griot and dancer for various companies, such as the Dinizula Drummers; worked as a cabaret performer in U.S. and international cities. Lou Myers Scenario Motion Picture Institute/Theatre, founder and president. Urban Futurist Organization, chairperson and futurist. Worked as a scholar, trainer, and mentor; public speaker at various venues; worked at the New York City Department of Education and New York City Board of Education. Military service: Served in the U.S. Air Force.

Awards, Honors:

AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee, Inc.) Award, 1976, for Fat Tuesday; 10th Annual Ticketholder Award nomination, 2000; Appalachian Education Initiative named Myers an outstanding creative artist from West Virginia and featured him in their book Art & Soul: West Virginians in the Arts, 2005; National Association for the Association of Colored People (NAACP), Award, and AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee, Inc.) Award, best supporting actor, 2007, both for King Hedley II.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Alternate Malof, Decision at Tongo, Blackfriars Guild Theatre, New York City, 1963.

Understudy to Louis Gossett, The Blacks: A Clown Show, Negro Ensemble Company, St. Mark's Playhouse, New York City, c. 1968.

(Sometimes billed as Louis Meyers) Madam's bodyguard, Fat Tuesday (musical), New Heritage Players, New York City, 1975.

(As Lou Leabengula Myers) Reverend Mosely, The First Breeze of Summer, Negro Ensemble Company, St. Mark's Playhouse, 1975.

Former slave, Do Lord Remember Me, American Place Theatre, New York City, 1982-83 and 1984.

Slow Drag and understudy for the role of Toledo, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cort Theatre, New York City, 1984-85.

Clete, Paducah, American Place Theatre, Women's Project & Productions, 1985.

Wining boy, The Piano Lesson, Walter Kerr Theatre, New York City, 1990-91.

Stool Pigeon, King Hedley II, Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL, 2000, and Virginia Theatre, New York City, 2001.

Just a Little Bit of Somethin' (solo show), Pantheon Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Ol' Mister and member of the ensemble, The Color Purple (musical), Broadway Theatre, New York City, beginning 2005.

Stool Pigeon, King Hedley II, Signature Theatre Company, The Peter Norton Space, New York City, 2007.

Reverend Tooker, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Broadhurst Theatre, New York City, 2008.

Appeared in other productions, including Take a Giant Step, Karamu Theatre, Cleveland, OH; and Fences.

Major Tours:

Toured as the narrator of Negro Music in Vogue; toured U.S., Far East, and African cities with Me and the Blues (solo show).

Stage Work:

Producer and codirector, Just a Little Bit of Somethin' (solo show), Pantheon Theatre, New York City, 2002.

Director of Julius Caesar (also known as Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar"), Tshaka Ensemble Players.

Film Appearances:

Attendant, Missing Pieces, Orion, 1991.

Willie, Cobb, Warner Bros., 1994.

Quincy, The Passion of Darkly Noon (also known as Darkly Noon and Die Passion des Darkly Noon), Fugitive Features, 1995.

Clint, Tin Cup, Warner Bros., 1996.

Pastor Lake, Volcano, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1997.

Uncle Ollie, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998.

Uncle Tyrone, Bulworth (also known as Tribulations, Bulworth—Candidato em perigo, Bulworth—Il senatore, El senador Bulworth, Koko kansan Bulworth, and Politicamente incorreto), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1998.

Half-Step Wilson, The Stand-In, Good To Be Seen Films, 1999.

Police captain, Goodbye Lover, Warner Bros., 1999.

Tommy, The Big Confession, 1999.

Abe, Everything's Jake, Boz Productions, 2000.

Burt Weinberg, The Wedding Planner (also known as Wedding Planner—verliebt, verlobt, verplant), Columbia, 2001.

Toomie, All about You, One Accord, 2001.

Blue Smoke Jones, Nobody Knows Anything!, BCI Eclipse/Stargazer Entertainment, 2003.

Homer T., The Fighting Temptations (also known as Lucha de tentaciones, Resistindo as tentacoes, and Taivaallinen viettelys), Paramount, 2003.

Mr. King, Sweet Oranges, Tri Destined Studios, 2003.

Coach Lou, Team Player, ITN Distribution, 2004.

Counter man, Kings of the Evening, 2008.

Television Appearances; Series:

Vernon Gaines, A Different World, NBC, 1988-93.

Charlie, All about the Andersons (also known as Familjen Anderson, Todo sobre los Anderson, and Tudo sobre os Andersons), The WB, 2003-2004.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Albie, Mama Flora's Family, CBS, 1998.

Television Appearances; Movies:

"The Richest Cat in the World," The Disney Sunday Movie (also known as Disneyland, Disneylandia, Disney's Wonderful World, The Magical World of Disney, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Presents, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and The Wonderful World of Disney), ABC, 1986.

George, "Homecoming Day," Riot, Showtime, 1995.

Lawrence, A Private Affair, Black Entertainment Television (BET), 2001.

Ol' Po Carl, Lackawanna Blues, HBO, 2005.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Reverend Mosely, "The First Breeze of Summer," Great Performances, PBS, 1976.

Wining boy, "The Piano Lesson," Hallmark Hall of Fame, CBS, 1995.

Himself, Acapulco Black Film Festival, 2000.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Mr. Davis, "Andalusian Flu," The Cosby Show, NBC, 1987.

Mr. Davis, "You Only Hurt the One You Love," The Cosby Show, NBC, 1987.

Riley, "I Got a Crush on You," Bagdad Cafe, Showtime, 1990.

Uncle Luther, "Family Reunion," The Sinbad Show (also known as Sinbad and Ein Vater fuer zwei), Fox, 1994.

Billy Cates, "Reunion," The Sentinel (also known as Sentinel), UPN, 1996.

Milton Hampton, "To Grandmother's House We Go," Living Single (also known as My Girls), Fox, 1996.

Rubberneck Watson, "Seems Like Old Times," The Jamie Foxx Show, The WB, 1996.

Wendell Freeman III, "Yesterday's Heroes," JAG (also known as JAG: Judge Advocate General), CBS, 1998.

Elijah Waters, "What Money Can't Buy," The Famous Jett Jackson, Disney Channel, 1999.

Gus, "The Tapawingo Witch Project," Malcolm & Eddie, UPN, 1999.

Mr. Urman, "Quo Vadis?," ER (also known as Emergency Room), NBC, 2001.

Mr. Owens, "Brotherly Love," Philly, ABC, 2002.

Deacon Peabody, "Porn Free," Eve (also known as The Opposite Sex), UPN, 2004.

King Tut, "Dress for Success," NYPD Blue, ABC, 2004.

King Tut, "Sergeant Sipowicz' Lonely Hearts Club Band," NYPD Blue, ABC, 2005.

Appeared in other programs, including an appearance as Mr. Hayes, Thea, ABC; and an appearance as Cueball, Touched by an Angel, CBS.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Charlie, All about the Andersons (also known as Familjen Anderson, Todo sobre los Anderson, and Tudo sobre os Andersons), The WB, 2003.

Clerk, Lucky Louie, HBO, 2006.

WRITINGS

Writings for the Stage:

Just a Little Bit of Somethin' (solo show), Pantheon Theatre, New York City, 2002.

OTHER SOURCES

Electronic:

Lou Myers,http://www.loumyers.com, September 9, 2008.

Myers, Lou 1915–2005

(Louis Myers)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born April 12, 1915, in Paris, France; died of spindle cell carcinoma, November 20, 2005, in Cortlandt Manor, NY. Cartoonist, artist, and author. Myers was an influential illustrator and cartoonist whose works graced everything from movie posters and advertisements to children's books and cartoons in the New Yorker and Mother Jones. Though born in France, he was brought to New York City two years later with his family and grew up in the Bronx. His dark sense of humor, according to family members, stemmed from the grim experience of watching helplessly as his father drowned in 1926. Myers went on to study at the Art Students League, as well as Columbia University, New York University, the New School, and the École des Beaux Arts. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, but his experience there was as an artist painting portraits and combat scenes. After the war, he spent most of his career as a freelancer working for various corporations or on his own publications. During his early years, he illustrated posters for Twentieth Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures. After marrying a children's book illustrator, he began contributing cartoons to French publications and illustrating books, including Art Buchwald's Paris after Dark (1955). His first foray into children's books was an adaptation of Puss-in-Boots (1955), on which he collaborated with his wife, Bernice. He went on to write and illustrate three more children's titles, such as Ha Ha Ha Hyenas (1971), as well as illustrating the works of other children's authors. During the 1960s, Myers was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Ramparts, Esquire, and Holiday. His cartoons were collected in the books A Psychiatric Glossary (1962), Group Therapy (1965), and Absent and Accounted For (1980). Noted for his deceptively simple-looking line drawings, Myers often imbued his captionless work with sly comments on such topics as the nuclear arms race and personal relationships. His subversive perspective even made its way into his advertising work, for which he was notable, too, for being allowed to have his signature prominently displayed on the ads he created. Also an author of short stories and essays, Myers published a collection of autobiographical essays titled When Life Falls It Falls Upside Down in 1990.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Myers, Lou, When Life Falls It Falls Upside Down, Grove Weidenfeld (New York, NY), 1990.

PERIODICALS

New York Times, November 21, 2005, p. A23.

Myers, Lou 1915–2005

(Louis Myers)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for SATA sketch: Born April 12, 1915, in Paris, France; died of spindle cell carcinoma, November 20, 2005, in Cortlandt Manor, NY. Cartoonist, artist, and author. Myers was an influential illustrator and cartoonist whose works graced everything from movie posters and advertisements to children's books and cartoons in the New Yorker and Mother Jones. Though born in France, he was brought to New York City two years later with his family and grew up in the Bronx. His dark sense of humor, according to family members, stemmed from the grim experience of watching helplessly as his father drowned in 1926. Myers went on to study at the Art Students League, as well as Columbia University, New York University, the New School, and the École des Beaux Arts. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, but his experience there was as an artist painting portraits and combat scenes. After the war, he spent most of his career as a freelancer working for various corporations or on his own publications. During his early years, he illustrated posters for Twentieth Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures. After marrying a children's book illustrator, he began contributing cartoons to French publications and illustrating books, including Art Buchwald's Paris after Dark (1955). His first foray into children's books was an adaptation of Puss-in-Boots (1955), on which he collaborated with his wife, Bernice. He went on to write and illustrate three more children's titles, such as Ha Ha Ha Hyenas (1971), as well as illustrating the works of other children's authors. During the 1960s, Myers was a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, Ramparts, Esquire, and Holiday. His cartoons were collected in the books A Psychiatric Glossary (1962), Group Therapy (1965), and Absent and Accounted For (1980). Noted for his deceptively simple-looking line drawings, Myers often imbued his caption less work with sly comments on such topics as the nuclear arms race and personal relationships. His subversive perspective even made its way into his advertising work, for which he was notable, too, for being allowed to have his signature prominently displayed on the ads he created. Also an author of short stories and essays, Myers published a collection of autobiographical essays titled When Life Falls It Falls Upside Down in 1990.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Myers, Lou, When Life Falls It Falls Upside Down, Grove Weidenfeld (New York, NY), 1990.

PERIODICALS

New York Times, November 21, 2005, p. A23.