Happy 55th Birthday, Actor and Director Robert Townsend

Born February 6, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, Robert Townsend first became famous for writing, producing, and directing the 1987 independent feature film Hollywood Shuffle, a satire based on the hardships and obstacles that black actors undergo in movie industry, which he famously funded with credit cards. His next feature, The Five Heartbeats (1991), was a nostalgic look back at male R&B groups of the 1960s.  Townsend also had success in television with his award-winning Partners In Crime variety shows for HBO as well as his 1995-1999 WB sitcom The Parent ‘Hood. To learn more about Townsend’s life and career, click here, and enjoy The Five Heartbeats trailer below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZFdQmmDS5c
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson