By Tarice L.S. Gray

On February 23, 2010 at the Director’s Guild of America, Academy Award-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson spoke eloquently about Bill Duke, one of the people she wanted to thank for her Oscar-worthy performance in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Duke, the esteemed actor/director, who acted in such films as Predator and directed such hits as Sister Act II, was being honored that evening for his work as an artist and humanitarian.

A who’s who of black Hollywood, including Oscar nominees Laurence Fishburne and John Singleton, gave tribute to the man many call mentor and most call friend. The celebration of memories made Duke’s successful journey to Hollywood stardom seem worthy of its challenges. Duke, 67, notes there were many along the way, starting in his hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York.

Early on, Duke knew he had a calling. As a teenager, he had dreams of being a part of something bigger than most. He saw movies and wanted to become a participant, not just a member of the audience. But his parents thought it was best if his dreams were deferred, since back then, he recalled, Sidney Poitier and Brock Peters were the only black faces on the silver screen. Neither of Duke’s parents went to high school and they worked several jobs to make ends meet. They didn’t believe in serendipity, reality was too hard. So when it came to their children, they made other plans. Bill Jr. was to be a doctor. Duke said, “In those days your parents told you what you were going to be. So I took courses in anatomy and physiology, cutting up sharks and cats. The smell of formaldehyde was all over me, I didn’t get it. I can appreciate what doctors do, but that wasn’t my thing.”

His protests lead to a compromise. The Dukes agreed their cerebral son had a lot to say and was inquisitive by nature, so teaching would be his destiny. Years later those who studied under Sir Duke, as he is affectionately called, would gladly say he’d earned the label of Professor. But, early on, Bill had to find his way in the arts through a series of mishaps and blessings.

Duke earned a scholarship in English to Boston University, but kept falling asleep and snoring in his Chaucer class. “The teacher told me if I did it again, he was going to kick me out, and I couldn’t graduate without the credit. I did it a fourth time, and he kicked me out,” Duke said.

A friend encouraged Duke to pursue theatre. At the time, legendary theatre director Lloyd Richards was auditioning for the Boston University drama department. Duke didn’t just find his calling, he found a mentor. He followed Richards to NYU and, eventually, Hollywood. Richards encouraged Duke to stay in Los Angeles. It was the right decision. Duke said, “The great [director] Michael Schultz and I were friends, and he gave me my first big break in Car Wash.” Duke made a name for himself and went on to appear in American Gigolo with Richard Gere, then Commando and Predator with Arnold Schwarzeneggar.

Success seemed to come easy for the 6′ 4″ actor. He was cast as the co-lead of a Norman Lear and Alex Haley co-venture titled Palmerstown USA, a series on CBS in 1980 about race relations in the 1930′s south. Duke said “I’d done some films and I thought I had made it. After the series I didn’t get a job for almost two years.” His success proved to be temporary. Hollywood tagged Duke with the label “overexposed” and he fell into a depression. Down but not out, Duke reinvented himself. He applied to the American Film Institute (AFI) and gave up acting to study directing. While in school he directed a film called The Heroes, which won several awards. Duke said he shopped it to every studio and network in Hollywood to no avail. His depression returned.

To combat his sadness, Duke turned to meditation. While at a retreat in Napa Valley, California, his agent called saying that David Jacobs, the producer of Knots Landing, wanted to hire him to direct an episode. Duke was ecstatic, “I was going to shoot that Monday, then that Friday evening Joe Wallis, the line producer, came in and said ‘Hey Bill you did a great job with the prep and we always knew you were going to do it because you had a great reel.’ I said ‘What reel? I just graduated from AFI.’” They wanted to fire him on the spot, but they didn’t have time to replace him before the Monday shoot. That fortuitous accident launched Duke’s directing career.

Some of his most memorable film contributions as a director include Hoodlum and Deep Cover, both Duke remains proud to include in his vast filmography. But Duke isn’t sure if such films can be made today and that black-focued films shouldn’t be black filmmakers sole priority. He said, “I’m not saying we should stop making films that are domestically targeted to a black audience, but that should not be the only thing we are doing. We should be focused on the business of movies. We have the capacity to do so, but not the will, and the initiative, and not the opportunity.” Duke never sought to limit his career, directing the crossover hit Sister Act II and the Jewish rooted comedy The Cemetery Club.

Currently, he’s developing online content and renewing his commitment to documentary story telling. Duke has several projects in the works. One is titled Black Diamond: The Evolution of Blacks in Baseball. He said the story goes beyond the Negro Leagues to explore the sports history among African Americans all the way back to the civil war. Another project is titled Dark Girls, a documentary about the impact Western standards of beauty has on women of a darker hue.

Projects like these are his passion, as is the preservation of the black community which he believes is in dire need of repair. The celebrated actor/director is also actively calling attention to the plight of African Americans. Duke is concerned about AIDS, obesity, and the protection and education of our youth among other issues. He said, “I implore us as a people to begin to understand from a holistic point of view historically, culturally where we are right now. There’s a need for us get involved in whatever organizations are addressing issues in an urgent manner.”  He goes on to say we as a community should think in a globally conscious way, not just when it comes to the arts, but education, business and health as well. According to Sir Duke it’s our duty to care.

Tarice L. S. Gray is a freelance writer and blogger.