Mandelas Favorite Folktales – Performers Blair Underwood

Blair Underwood reads
The Sultan's Daughter

Blair Underwood has distinguished himself as an award-winning actor/director/producer who continues to showcase his multitude of talents in the world of film, television, theatre and literature.

In 2009, Underwood has received an abundance of accolades that included a Grammy award for Best Spoken Word for former vice-president, Al Gore's album An Inconvenient Truth read by Blair Underwood, Beau Bridges & Cynthia Nixon. Underwood also received his second Golden Globe nomination for supporting actor in a series, miniseries or motion picture made for television for his powerful characterization on HBO's In Treatment. Additionally, he was nominated for four NAACP Image Awards of which he was awarded his sixth overall.

Underwood in 2007 shot his feature directorial debut in Pittsburgh, the independent drama Bridge to Nowhere. The film, which stars Danny Masterson, Bijou Phillips and Ving Rhames, is the story of four blue-collar twenty-something men from North Pittsburgh who team up with a destitute prostitute to create a high-priced escort service. The dark story follows their rise and inevitable spiraling descent.

Underwood was seen in three high-profile television projects in 2008. He starred opposite Donald Sutherland in ABC's hit drama Dirty Sexy Money - as Simon Elder, a billionaire who tangles with the fictional Darling family. He starred in the aforementioned, In Treatment, and he reprised his recurring role of Mr. Harris opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the CBS award-winning comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Additionally, he produced the TLC series Million Dollar Christmas with his production partner Tommy Morgan Jr. for their new Intrepid Inc. production company. The first order of the series followed a group of lottery winners in St. Louis, Missouri - coworkers at a social services office - who went from modest lifestyles to multimillionaire status. The viewer saw how their newfound fortune is affecting their lives for better or worse. Intrepid Inc. has several projects in development.

This past fall he returned to the literary world - co-authoring the detective novel In the Night of the Heat with Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes. The team is currently working on the third installment of the series entitled, From Capetown With Love. The detective series has received rave reviews from both readers and critics. The second book in the series In the Night of the Heat was released September 16, 2008.

Underwood portrayed Jesus in the audio book The Bible Experience. Since its release in October 2006 it has become the No. 1 selling audio Bible in history.

In five episodes of the final season of HBO's hit series Sex & the City, Underwood played Robert Leeds, the NY Knicks team doctor who romanced his neighbor Miranda. His portrayal earned him two NAACP Image Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor.

In the independent film world, Underwood starred in and produced the independent drama How Did It Feel? He also starred in the independent films G and Truth Be Told as well as Amazon.com's short film Do Geese See God.

In 2004, Underwood had a workshop/tour of his one-man show IM4: From the Mountaintop to Hip Hop. The play, which he created and conceived and was written by his brother, was the story of a rap mogul who gets gunned down. During his heavenly journey, the mogul meets the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Underwood played eight characters in all.

Underwood's film credits include his portrayals of a space shuttle flight navigator in the Paramount/DreamWorks hit Deep Impact, a death row inmate in Warner Bros.' Just Cause, a geneticist in Columbia's Gattaca, a sheriff in Posse, and a corporate banker in New Line's Set It Off. He received an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a motion picture for the latter role.

He co-starred in the Tyler Perry hit Madea's Family Reunion and the romantic comedy Something New. He appeared in the Warner Bros. comedy Malibu's Most Wanted, and was the male lead opposite Julia Roberts in Steven Soderbergh's Full Frontal. Underwood starred as a Marine captain in William Friedkin's Rules of Engagement, for which he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Film. That same year he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series for his starring role in Steven Bochco's City of Angels. In 2000, People Magazine named him one of its "50 Most Beautiful People" and in 2004 named him one of the "Sexiest Men Alive."

As director, executive producer, writer and star of the dramatic short The Second Coming, Underwood played Jesus Christ returning to earth. In addition, he produced and starred in the independent thriller Asunder and the short film Sister, I'm Sorry. He also has five music videos to his directing credit.

Underwood grew up an "Army brat," living in cities all over the world, but he calls Virginia his home. He burst into the national spotlight with his confident and passionate portrayal of lawyer Jonathan Rollins in the NBC hit series L.A. Law. The role also earned him his first Golden Globe nomination. Additionally, TV Guide singled him out as one of "The Top Stars of the 90s."

Underwood starred in CBS' top-rated 1998 dramatic miniseries, Mama Flora's Family, which was based on Alex Haley's last book. The performance earned him an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Television Movie/Miniseries. Underwood won the NAACP Image Award for Best Actor in a Television Movie for NBC's Murder in Mississippi and starred as Jackie Robinson in HBO's Soul of the Game, for which he received another NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie/Miniseries. Underwood also starred in Showtime's The Wishing Tree and TNT's award-winning Heat Wave. He also starred in a powerful episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as an abusive husband who sets his wife on fire, opposite Heather Locklear in the NBC drama LAX and the CBS miniseries The Hades Factor.

His theater credits include the New York revival of the award-winning musical, Purlie, Measure for Measure, at the 1993 New York Shakespeare Festival, El Negro en Peru, The Game of Love and Chance, and Love Letters opposite Alfre Woodard.

Underwood is involved in numerous charitable organizations. His dedicated support of the Muscular Dystrophy Association won him the 1993 Humanitarian Award, presented by the Los Angeles Chapter of MDA. In 2003 Underwood, along with Ashley Judd, served as the spokesperson for YouthAIDS and in 2004 he appeared in a public service announcement for The Fulfillment Fund. He is also co-founder of Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA). Founded in 1989 arts and entertainment community, ANSA supports a democratic South Africa with equal rights and opportunities for all citizens.

In fall 2005, Underwood published his first book, a non-fiction bestseller called Before I Got Here (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc.). The book is a collection of stories and anecdotes from parents that speak to the existence of a child's soul prior to birth.