Robert Guillaume Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Robert Guillaume - Essay Example It was this very relentless fight against reality along with virtue of talent, persistence and unwillingness to bow down to anyone which bolstered his way out of the St. Louis slums to glory. Robert Guillaume was born on November 30th 1927 in St. Louis Missouri (IMDB, 2008). He was mostly in the care of his grandmother and had a strict catholic upbringing. This was where Robert first discovered his true identity. Robert discovered a talent in himself and distinguished himself by singing church music (Guillaume and Ritz, 2002). In his autobiography, Robert states, "In my mind music carried me from the St. Louis ghetto to the magnificent cathedrals of Germany, Italy and France" (Guillaume and Ritz, 2002). In 1945, Robert joined the US Army, something that was never destined to work out coherently. His rebellious and outspoken behavior caused friction with his captain and within 15 months, Robert resigned with honorable discharge (answers.com, nd). To cherish his grandmother's wishes Robert enrolled in evening classes at Saint Louis University majoring in Business Administration, but destiny had decided that performing arts was where Robert was the perfect fit. Soon after, Robert joined the prestigious music school of Washington University. Finally at the age of 31, Robert had his professional debut in the Karamu's production of Carousel (answers.com, nd). ... Ever since, Robert performed at several productions by various theatre groups. He kept jumping careers, joining new groups, visiting places and continuously improving his performances. In 1970 when he first appeared in Some place to be Somebody, he called it his first real acting debut. Robert Guillaume was one such actor who continually defied stereotypes. His commanding theatrical presence brought the actor a 1977 Tony nomination for his portrayal of Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls," with an all black cast (speakingofstories.org). He had finally arrived. On his next project, Benson that had an interracial casting, Robert insisted on his character being equal to that of any other character; eventually his character turned out to be the most brilliant. Soon he left for television. This was mainly because he was informed that the movies market was not doing very well. He got a character of a butler for the nighttime satire called Soap. In 1979 he received an Emmy award for this role . Soon his roles caught the attention of top league and he was given a chance to add a 3-dimension persona to his role in Benson to reflect the progress of the Afro-American community on America. Such a position had never been attained by minorities in America in the theatre field. After his stint with television, Guillaume hit the nightclub circuits, singing in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. He also formed his own production company, Longridge Enterprises. This company was to develop acting projects. Perhaps his greatest theatrical achievement came in 1990, when he was chosen to play the character of Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's spectacular musical The Phantom of the Opera. His selection was met with controversy by several audiences. Some