Please join film fans and artists for a powerful screening of The Least Among You and an extraordinary evening with the legendary Louis Gossett, Jr. Screening and Award Presentation occurs Tuesday, March 3rd at 7:00pm at the California Theatre.
With a commanding height of 6’4” and a flair for projecting quiet authority, Louis Gossett, Jr. ranks as one of the most respected African-American actors of stage, screen, and television. Known for choosing diverse and challenging roles, his effortless brilliance translates immediately, whether as a landlord, an officer or even as an alien.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Grason
Tel: 770.367.8378
email: info@youthofhonor.org
January 30, 2009
Actors Louis Gossett Jr. and Raven-Symone Provide YOHCAST Interviews to Inspire Youth
Atlanta, GA - The Youth of Honor Foundation was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to be blessed with words of encouragement from Legendary Academy Award Winning Actor Louis Gossett, Jr. and Trumpet Pinnacle Award Winner, Singer, Dancer, and Actress Raven-Symone. In taped interviews this past weekend, while in Atlanta for the 2009 Trumpet Awards, these two individuals shared their take on GETTING YOH JUMP ON LIFE. ‘True happiness lies in helping people, and you don’t have to follow people going down the wrong path,’ said Raven. ‘Don ‘t do the wrong thing to justify yourself, you’re wasting your life.’ Ms. Symone has spent her entire life growing up in front of our eyes on The Cosby Show and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. She keeps her family around her a nd people who tell her the truth. She encourages everyone to ’see the good in mentors to help you be a better you.’
Mr. Gossett echoes that sentiment. He is certainly no stranger to drea ming big and living out that dream. With numerous blockbuster movie credits such as An Officer and a Gentleman and Tyler Perry’s 2007 Movie Daddy’ s Little Girls, Mr. Gossett is the true epitome of success. ‘You must have a roadmap for success,’ he said. ‘Man is subject to disappointment. There are no more excuses guys. We have a new President. He is our new role model.’
Check out the YOHCAST interviews below!
We encourage you to even post a comment on our YouTube site to be shared with youth around the world. Let’s face it. President Barack Obama has said it time and again throughout his campaign and even aft er he gave his oath of office on that monumental, historic Inauguration Day, January 20th. He made it clear that ‘Change will come,’ but only after we join together and do our part. What better echo of his sentiments than to have two generational trailblazers, Raven-Symone and Louis Gossett, Jr. simultaneously offering their messages of inspiration to today’s youth and future generations.
Actor Louis Gossett Jr. and Colette Phillips attend the 17th Annual Trumpet Awards at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on January 25, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Picture courtesy of WireImage. Click here for more!
This week, actor Louis Gossett Jr. will fly to Washington, D.C., to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama, where he will celebrate with an inner circle of African American celebrities who campaigned for the president-elect. But in between those festivities, he will make a more personal stop — to deliver the toast at the National Inaugural Jewish Ball sponsored by Ohev Shalom — the National Synagogue, a thriving Modern Orthodox congregation in the capital.
Stage and screen star Louis Gossett, Jr., who was seen in the Kennedy Center’s 2008 production of Fences, will be part of an upcoming tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Entitled “Raising the Roof!,” the Jan. 19 performance - the eve of the historic inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama - at Boston’s Jordan Hall will feature actor Gossett as well as The Young People’s Chorus of New York City and the Boston Children’s Chorus.
The program is described as a “tapestry of words and music honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Francisco J. Nuñez, artistic director and founder of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, said in a statement, “We are delighted to be taking part in this annual tribute to Martin Luther King on the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama. It is not only Dr. King’s birthday we are celebrating today, but his dream of all God’s children uniting together in brotherhood and our hopes and prayers for our nation under our new president.”
Gossett added, “It is the responsibility of every generation to raise the quality of life for the next one . . . This [event] is progress. This is great progress and a model for the rest of our nation.”
The show will air live at 7 PM ET in Boston; Washington, DC; Tampa; St. Petersburg; Phoenix; Cleveland; Miami; Ft. Lauderdale; Sacramento; Orlando; Daytona Beach; St. Louis and Pittsburgh. In New York, the show will air on WABC Jan. 25 at 1 PM ET.
Louis Gosset, Jr. has appeared on Broadway in Chicago, Murderous Angels, Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, My Sweet Charlie, The Zulu and the Zayda, Golden Boy, Tambourines to Glory, A Raisin in the Sun, The Desk Set and Take a Giant Step. Gossett won an Academy Award for his performance in “An Officer and a Gentleman.” Gossett also founded the Eracism Foundation in 2006, which seeks to “promote education and awareness of racism, ignorance and social apathy.”
For more information visit www.bostonchildrenschorus.org.
Contact: Christopher Chen
or Mirjana Van Blaricom
(818) 989-1589
info@pressacademy.com
www.pressacademy.com
The International Press Academy announces Louis Gossett, Jr. will receive the 2008 Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment Industry at this year’s 13th Annual Satellite AwardsTM to be held on Sunday, December 14, 2008 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, California.
Mr. Gossett is a star of stage and screen whose career began in 1958 and covers more than 50 years, continuing to this day. He is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the 1983 Academy Award® for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of the tough gunnery sergeant Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman, which was directed by Taylor Hackford. This film also featured memorable
performances by a young Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
Over the years, Mr. Gossett’s career has reflected the dignity and grace of a true scholar of his craft, from the 1961 production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, to his Emmy Award-winning role in the groundbreaking television mini-series Roots (1977), to his portrayal of Anwar Sadat in the 1983 television movie, Sadat, and hosts of other performances, Louis Gossett, Jr. has exemplified the quintessential thespian. At present, Mr. Gossett has taken a leading role on the popular science fiction series Stargate SG-1introducing him to yet a new generation of fans worldwide.
As a philanthropist and humanitarian, Mr. Gossett’s achievements have been equally impressive. Mr. Gossett is the founder of the nonprofit Eracism Foundation aimed at creating entertainment that helps bring awareness and education to issues such as racism, ignorance, and societal apathy.
The International Press Academy gives recognition to veteran artists and personalities who have become pioneers and institutions in the entertainment industry by bestowing their coveted Satellite Award in a number of distinctive categories, as well as its lifetime achievement honors, the Nikola Tesla Award and the Mary Pickford Award. Mr. Gossett will be the thirteenth recipient of the Mary Pickford Award.
Past recipients of the International Press Academy’s Mary Pickford Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry include: Kathy Bates, Martin Landau, Gena Rowlands, Susan Sarandon, Arnon Milchan, Robert Evans, Karl Malden, Francis Ford Coppola, Maximilian Schell, Alan J. Pakula, Jodie Foster, and Rod Steiger.
Singer Christina Aguilera joined fellow Grammy Award winners Alicia Keys and John Legend for “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute,” which honored the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2008. The show, taped before an audience of more than 2,500 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, premiered on the global networks of CNN on Thanksgiving night.
Liz McCartney, dedicated to helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina rebuild their homes, was named 2008 CNN Hero of the Year.
McCartney, who will receive $100,000 to continue her work just outside New Orleans, was selected from among the top 10 CNN Heroes after six weeks of online voting at CNN.com. More than 1 million votes were cast.
The Family and Social Services Administration’s (FSSA) Indiana Commission on the Social Status of Black Males (ICSSBM) began its 14th Annual Black Male State Conference. The two-day event at the new Indianapolis central library started this morning with a new theme to focus on the “Total Education of the Black Male”.
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Today’s keynote address was presented by Emmy-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. Gossett’s Broadway theatre credits include A Raisin in the Sun, Golden Boy, and Chicago. Gossett also earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in An Officer and a Gentleman. The format for this year’s conference has changed slightly enabling the ICSSBM to focus solely on adults on the first day and turn to the African-American youth on the second day.
