Kevin Hooks
| Kevin Hooks | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 19, 1958 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, director |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Spouse(s) | Regina Hooks (1978-1984) (divorced) Cheryl Hooks (?-present) (2 children |
Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable for his roles in Aaron Loves Angela and Sounder, but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's The White Shadow.
Kevin Hooks was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Yvonne, a state employee, and Robert Hooks, a director and actor who starred in many films in the 1970s. Kevin's nickname among his friends is "King Royal".
Hooks lived in Southwest, Washington, D.C. in the late-1970s. He attended Potomac High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
When he was still 10, Kevin starred in the acclaimed "J.T.," a 1969 episode of the CBS Children's Hour about a thoughtful Harlem youth who befriends a sick cat. Written by Jane Wagner, it was a Peabody Award winner and remains widely available.
Hooks appeared in the hit 1972 movie (Sounder) as the pre-teen elder son of Paul Winfield's and Cicely Tyson's characters, providing the point of view of the film. He held the story together as a boy thrust into being "man of the family" on a sharecropping farm during the Depression. The adults were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars respectively for their performances.
Hooks won a role in the last film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. (Super Fly), Aaron Loves Angela (1975). Set in contemporary Harlem at New York's grittiest and most depressing ebb, that film was extolled or tarred (depending on your viewpoint) as a "blaxploitation" version of Romeo and Juliet, using African American and Puerto Rican ethnicity in lieu of medieval families. While playing a withdrawn teenager, he created electricity opposite the 15-year-old Irene Cara. Jose Feliciano in a bit part and a little comic relief lighten the grimness, as the young lovers encounter nothing but intolerance and the secret location where they meet becomes the site of a dangerous drug deal. The movie was popular locally and praised by fans, but widely considered a weakly plotted failure.
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