ANNA DEAVERE SMITH is an actor, teacher, playwright, and the creator of an acclaimed series of one-woman plays based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. She has won two Obie Awards, two Tony nominations for her play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, and a MacArthur Fellowship. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play Fires in the Mirror. She has had roles in the films Philadelphia, The American President, The Human Stain, and Rent, and she has worked in television on The Practice, Presideo Med, The West Wing, and Nurse Jackie. The founder and director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, she teaches at New York University.
