Robert Hooks (born Bobby Dean Hooks, April 18, 1937) is an American actor of films, television and stage. With a career as a producer and political activist to his credit, he is most recognizable to the public for his over 100 roles in films and television.

Biography

Early life
Hooks, youngest of five children, was born in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C., the son of Bertha (née Ward), a seamstress, and Edward Hooks, who worked on the railroad track, where he died.


Career
Hooks has been regarded, variously, as a gifted artist who broke the color barriers in stage, film and television before the term "colorblind casting" even existed, and a leading man when there were no African American matinee idols. He originated roles on the New York stage in such classics as Dutchman, A Taste of Honey and Where's Daddy? for which he won the Theatre World Award. He was the first African American lead on a television drama, the original N.Y.P.D.

In 1968 Hooks was the host of the new public affairs television program, Like It Is.

Most famously, Hooks, along with Douglas Turner Ward,founded The Negro Ensemble Company (NEC). He then brought Gerald Krone in as Production Manager. The NEC is credited with the launch of the careers of many major black artists of all disciplines, while creating a body of performance literature over the last thirty years, providing the backbone of African-American theatrical classics. Additionally Hooks is the sole founder of two significant black theatre companies: the DC Black Repertory Company, and New York's Group Theatre Workshop, built to mentor the talents of New York's disadvantaged youth. He soon brought in Dr. Barbara Ann Teer to teach classes and develop the workshop.

Hooks was nominated for a Tony for his lead role in the musical, Hallelujah, Baby!, has received both the Pioneer Award and the NAACP Image Award for Lifetime Achievement, and has been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. He also won an Emmy for his PBS special Voices of Our People.

Significant roles for which Hooks is known include Reeve Scott in Hurry Sundown (1967), Mr. T. in the blaxploitation film Trouble Man (1972), grandpa Gene Donovan in the comedy Seventeen Again (2000), and Fleet Admiral Morrow in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). He also appeared on television in an episode of the NBC crie drama series The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978 and portrayed Doctor Walcott in the 1980s television series Dynasty.