Celebrity bios from P-Z are below in alphabetical order. Visit more bios:
A-Fa (1-12) | Fe-O (13-27)
Gordon Parks

Filmmaker, photographer, composer
November 30, 1912 - March 7, 2006
Films (as director):
- The Learning Tree (1969)
- Shaft (1971)
- Shaft's Big Score! (1972)
- The Super Cops (1974)
- Leadbelly (1976)
Photographs:
- American Gothic, Washington, D.C. (1942)
- Self-Portrait (1945)
- "The Restraints: Open and Hidden"(Photo Essay - 1956)
Wolfe Perry

Actor
January 22, 1957 -
TV Series (as actor):
- Up and Coming (1980)
- The White Shadow (1980-1981)
- Hill Street Blues (1982)
- Riptide (1985)
- Misfits of Science (1986)
Films (as actor):
- Space Rage (1985)
- Soul Man (1986)
Richard Pryor

Actor, comedian
December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005
Films (as actor):
- Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
- Car Wash (1976)
- The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
- The Wiz (1978)
- Stir Crazy (1980)
- Brewster's Millions (1985)
- See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989)
Films (as writer):
- Blazing Saddles (1974)
- Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling (1986)
Comedy Albums:
- ...Is It Something I Said? (1975)
- Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983)
TV Series (as actor)
- The Richard Pryor Show (1977)
- Pryor's Place (1984)
Lillian Randolph

Actor, singer
December 14, 1898 - September 12, 1980
Films (as actor):
- The Great Gildersleeve (1942)
- It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
- Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975)
- Magic (1978)
- The Onion Field (1979)
TV Series (as actor):
- Tom and Jerry (1940-1952)
- Beulah (1952)
- The Bill Cosby Show (1969)
- Roots (1977)
Beah Richards

Actor, playwright, activist
July 12, 1920 - September 14, 2000
Films (as actor):
- Take a Giant Step (1959)
- In the Heat of the Night (1967)
- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1968)
- The Great White Hope (1970)
- Beloved (1998)
TV Series (as actor):
- Frank's Place (1988)
- The Practice (2000)
Theater (as actor):
- Take a Giant Step (1955)
- A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
- The Amen Corner (1965)
Theater (as playwright)
- A Black Woman Speaks (1950)
- One Is a Crowd (1951)
Esther Rolle

Actor
November 8, 1920 - November 17, 1998
Films (as actor):
- Nothing But a Man (1964)
- The Learning Tree (1969)
- Don't Play Us Cheap (1973)
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1979)
- Summer of My German Soldier (1978)
- Rosewood (1997)
TV Series (as actor):
- Maude (1972-1974)
- Good Times (1974-1979)
Theater (as actor)
- The Blacks (1962)
- Don't Play Us Cheap (1972)
- Macbeth (1977)
Michael Schultz

Director, producer
November 10, 1938 -
Film (as director):
- To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1972)
- Car Wash (1976)
- Carbon Copy (1981)
- Bustin' Loose (1981)
- Krush Groove (1985)
TV Series (as director):
- Brothers & Sisters (2007-2010)
- Arrow (2012 - 2017)
Theater (as director):
- Kongi's Harvest (1968)
- Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? (1969)
- Mule Bone (1991)
Hazel Scott

Jazz pianist, singer, actor, activist
June 11, 1972 -
- Great Scott! (1947)
- Relaxed Piano Moods (1955)
- 'Round Midnight (1957)
Films (as actor):
- I Dood It (1943)
- The Heat's On (1943)
- The Night Affair 1958
- Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
TV Series (as actor):
- The Hazel Scott Show (1950)
- Julia (1969-1970)
Madge Sinclair

Actor
April 28, 1938 - December 20, 1995
Films (as actor):
- Conrack (1974)
- Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Coming to America (1988)
- The Lion King (1994)
TV Series (as actor):
- Roots (1977)
- Trapper John, M.D. (1980-1986)
- Gabriel's Fire (1991)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (1993)
Raymond St. Jacques

Actor, director, producer, activist
March 1, 1930 - August 27, 1990
Films (as actor):
- Black Like Me (1964)
- Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
- Come Back, Charleston Blue (1972)
- Book of Numbers (1973)
Films (as director):
- Book of Numbers (1973)
TV Series (as actor):
- Rawhide (1965-1966)
- Roots (1977)
- Superior Court (1988-1989)
Woody Strode

Actor, author, athlete
July 25, 1914 - December 31, 1994
Films (as actor):
- The Lion Hunters (1951)
- Spartacus (1960)
- Sergeant Rutledge (1960)
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
- The Professionals (1966)
- Black Jesus (1968)
- Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
TV Series (as actor):
- Rawhide (1961)
- Batman (1966)
- Tarzan (1966-1968)
- The Dukes of Hazzard (1980)
Vincent Tubbs

Publicist, journalist, activist
September 25, 1915 - January 15, 1989
Films (as publicist):
- Le Mans (1971)
- Cleopatra Jones (1973)
- The Klansman (1974)
- A Piece of the Action (1977)
- Fast Forward (1985)
Notable achievements:
- Elected president of the Hollywood Publicists Guild in 1967, becoming the first Black person to head a major motion picture guild.
- Co-founder, United Television Movie Equity Guild.
- Elected president of the BFHFI in 1979.
Kath Walker (Oodgeroo Noonuccal)

Activist, poet, artist, educator
November 3, 1920 - September 16, 1993
Films (as actor):
- Shadow Sisters (1977)
- The Fringe Dwellers (1986)
Prose:
- We Are Going: Poems (1964)
- The Dawn Is at Hand (1966)
- My People (1970)
- Stradbroke Dreamtime (1972)
Billy Dee Williams

Actor, novelist, painter
April 6, 1937 -
Films (as actor):
- The Final Comedown (1972)
- Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
- Mahogany (1975)
- The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Nighthawks (1981)
- Batman (1989)
TV Series (as actor):
- Gideon's Crossing (2000-2001)
- Dynasty (1984-1985)
- Double Dare (1985)
Theater (as actor):
- A Taste of Honey (1960)
- I Have a Dream (1976)
- Fences (1988)
Paul Winfield

Actor
May 22, 1939 - March 7, 2004
Films (as actor):
- The Lost Man (1969)
- Sounder (1972)
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Cliffhanger (1993)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
TV Series (as actor):
- Julia (1969-1970)
- King (1978)
- Roots: The Next Generation (1979)
- 227 (1988-1990)
- City Confidential (1998-2004)
