history

What a towering example of a human being, goddamn. I'm a communist theatre director, so if I could hang out with a historical figure, it would absolutely be Paul Robeson. I like to share this video from 1958 of him talking about playing Othello. This is an actor at the absolute top of his game in complete control of his craft, and fully grasping the political dimensions of the role. You basically don't see that anywhere else

edit: I just watched this again and I always forget how out of his league the mousy English interviewer is

Avery Brooks, known for playing Captain Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, performed a one-man show about Robeson and in an interview with ArtsATL stated:

When we think about Paul Robeson, we have to think about not just a magnificent American, but a world figure. He had audiences with heads of state. He was talking about apartheid in 1947. He talked about the embracing of mankind, the elimination of oppression, which we are looking at right now. I can celebrate all those things. This is not a mimicking of Paul Robeson. This is a portrait of one artist to another.

A one of a kind talent and life.