Duke - Bill Duke: my 40-year career on screen and behind the camera

BILL DUKE is an accomplished actor, director, producer, and writer. His acting and directing credits include stints on such groundbreaking television series as Falcon Crest , Fame , Hill Street Blues , Knots Landing , Dallas , and New York Undercover . His feature film credits include Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit , Get Rich or Die Trying , Deep Cover , Hoodlum , Predator , Menace II Society , and Not Easily Broken , to name a few. He has recently completed production on Blexicans , a new television pilot that takes a comedic look at a mixed-race family. His documentaries, Dark Girls and Light Girls , both NAACP Image Award nominees, aired on OWN and were two of the most successful documentaries on the network.

Bills contributions to the industry have been recognized by both his peers and the entertainment community. He was appointed to the National Endowment for the Humanities by former President Bill Clinton and the board of the California State Film Commission by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he has been honored by the Directors Guild of America with a Lifetime Achievement Tribute.

In addition to his acting and directing projects, Bill runs Duke Media Entertainment, an organization dedicated to bringing quality edutainment to audiences around the globe. Duke Media has successfully produced critically acclaimed film and television content for more than thirty years. Additionally, Duke Media is in the process of expanding the brand into the development of new media technologies. Since the early 70s, Bill and industry veterans Michael Shultz and Gordon Parks have paved the way for African Americans in the entertainment industry.

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To my mother, Ethel Duke,
and my father, William H. Duke.

To not the wisdom seekers but those who,
in spite of losses, defeats, accomplishments, and victories,
constantly ask the question Why?

To all those who say no
when they were told to say yes.

To all those who have the courage to live their dreams and
accept the consequences of those decisions.

To the impractical ones who play instruments, sing, or dance;
the ones who catch our hearts on global stages
and make us weep, wonder, laugh, and reflect on the whys of their lives.

To my grandfather and grandmother,
who gave up their dreams and encouraged us to live out our own.

To those who have the courage to stand up to challenges
that deal with race, gender, and ethnicity
and who do not allow those challenges and obstacles of this world
to stop them from doing what is right.

To those who are told, whether out of love or doubt,
this cannot be done, stop dreaming, or that is impossible
and still keep believing they can.

I WANT TO THANK MY FATHER and mother, Bill and Ethel Duke, who, through example, encouraged my sister and me to work and not to beg anybody for anything. Id like to acknowledge my relatives who supported me through my self-doubt as a youth. Id to thank to my sister Yvonne Hampton and my niece Nalo Hampton, two of my biggest supporters. Id like to acknowledge Dutchess Community College, Roosevelt High School, and Mrs. Walker for encouraging me to continue to write. Id like to thank Ms. Constance Kuhn, who gave me my first role in a play, Emperor Jones , when I was in Dutchess Community College. Id like to thank Lloyd Richards and all the instructors at Boston University who gave me the insight, wisdom, and understanding into the craft of acting.

Id like to thank my teachers and mentors at New York University: Michael Miller, Israel Hicks, and Michael Schultz, among many others. They pushed me to be better than I thought I could be. Lloyd Richards in particular was a mentor to me and gave me so much that I cannot begin to thank him enough. He was a great giver and sacrificer. Michael Schultz trusted me with my first real feature film break in Car Wash with Richard Pryor and many other stars. Of course, I have to acknowledge Joel Silver and Arnold Schwarzenegger for the roles I played in Commando and Predator . I want to thank all the folks at Disney for allowing me to direct Cemetery Club and Sister Act II , which gave me a major break in directing. Id like to thank all the folks at MGM who supported me through Hoodlum . Id like to thank David Jacobs, who gave me my first break in directing television, unknowingly, on Knots Landing . I want to thank Gilbert Moses, who gave me my first break as a Broadway actor. I want to thank my goddaughter, Nathalie, for being the most beautiful spirit who encouraged me and loved me unconditionally, and her mother, Anna. I want to thank all the wonderful women in my life, even though there are many I didnt treat with total regard. They loved me and cared for me.

I want to thank Chiijmree Williams, Dave Smitherman, and Diane Nine, who helped me put this entire adventure together. Id like to thank my fans who still to this day recognize me and appreciate my accomplishments. Id like to acknowledge myself for being able to keep God in my soul and in my spirit with meditation, prayer, and understanding. Last and most importantly, Id like to thank God. I dont know what God looks like, but I know what God feels like, and I know that God has been there for me my entire life. I am still here because there are things left for me to do. Some people think thanking God is corny and overdone, and for those people I want to say Thank God. Thank God. Thank God. Thank God.