Smith was a journeyman actor and teacher before striking success with her one-woman production "Fires in the Mirror" in 1992, part of a series overall titled "On the Road: The Search for American Character". Drawn from personal interviews, the play explored the racial tensions that resulted from two events in a small Brooklyn community: a Black child was killed by a car driven by a Hassid; a Jewish scholar was stabbed to death reportedly in retaliation. Smith delineated portrayals of 19 individuals whose lives were touched in some way by the events. What emerged was a powerful meditation that posed questions about how people (and by extension the audience) integrate perceptions of specific events into the general context of their own lives. Smith was commissioned to create a similar piece on the Los Angeles following the 1992 riots that stemmed from the jury decision to acquit the police accused of beating Rodney King. Using the same techniques, she sketched a larger canvas in "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992", portraying over 40 characters. The play won acclaim and earned Smith two Tony nominations for Best Play and Best Actress.
The petite, attractive African-American Smith made her feature debut in the forgettable "Soup for One" (1982) and was featured in Viveca Lindfors' autobiographical "Unfinished Business . . . " (1986). She also had small roles in "Dave" and "Philadelphia" (both 1993). In 1995, Smith essayed the role of a White House press secretary concerned over the romance between her boss and a lobbyist in Rob Reiner's fanciful political comedy "The American President".
- Also Credited As:
Anna Young
- Born:
Anna Young on September 18, 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Job Titles:
Actress, Playwright, Director, Teacher
Family
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Father: Deaver Smith.
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Mother: Anna Smith.
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Sister: Rosalind Allen. Born c. 1960
Education
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Western High School, Baltimore, MD, 1967
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Beaver College, Glenside, PA, linguistics, BA, 1971
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American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, CA, theater, MFA
Milestones
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1974 Made her stage debut in Horatio
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1978 Was an assistant professor of theater at Carnegie-Mellon University
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1982 Feature film debut, Soup for One
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1983 First play produced, On the Road
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1983 Made TV debut on the ABC daytime soap, All My Children
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1986 Moved to Los Angeles
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1992 Breakthrough role as the solo performer playing multiple and diverse characters in Fires in the Mirror ; also wrote play
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1993 Appeared in Jonathan Demme s film about AIDS and homosexuality, Philadelphia
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1993 Once again was the solo performer of multiple characters in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 ; first opened in LA and later moved to NY; nominated for two Tony Awards for Best Actress and Best Play
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1995 Played the president s press secretary in Rob Reiner s The American President ; scripted by Aaron Sorkin
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1997 First produced stage play with a cast of actors, House Arrest: First Edition
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1999 Reworked the stage play of House Arrest for the Los Angeles stage
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2000 Had a recurring role as District Attorney Kate Brunner on The Practice (ABC)
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2000 Starred in film version of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 ; presented in a special screening at the Sundance Film Festival
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2001 Had a recurring role on the NBC White House drama, The West Wing ; created by Aaron Sorkin
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2003 Cast in The Human Stain, opposite Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman
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2005 Co-starred in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, Rent
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2007 Played Deputy National Security Advisor in Peter Berg s The Kingdom
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2008 Co-starred in Jonathan Demme s Rachel Getting Married
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2009 Cast as hospital administrator Mrs. Akalitus in Showtime s dark comedy, Nurse Jackie
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Taught acting at New York University
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Was a professor in the drama department at Stanford University