Joseph Mydell

Screen and stage actor, writer and public speaker.

Education: Attended West savannah elementary school; Tompkins High School(class of 1963;Morehouse College, (1964-65), where he met Martin Luther King, when King spoke at his alma mater after receiving the Nobel Prize for Peace. Inspired by King, Mydell joined the Selma to Montgomery March on the last legs through the streets of Montgomery. New York University, School of the Arts(B.F.A., 1970; M.F.A., 1974) City University of New York (CUNY Ph. D Theatre studies, 1976-1979)

Early career: Mydell got his training as a student actor, working with Dr. Baldwin Burroughs and the Atlanta Morehouse Spelman Players in Shakespeare”s The Tempest, and Trials of Brother Jero by Wole Soyinka. At NYU, he was trained by Llyod Richards, Olympia Dukakis, Kristin Linklater, and directed by Andre Gregory. His professional career began in New York with the New York Shakespeare Festival and Lincoln Center theatre. He got his Equity card understudying Clevon Little off- Broadway. He also worked at Seattle Repertory theatre and for the National Endowment for the Arts in their touring production, “For All Times”.

Mydell came to England in 1979 doing research for his one-man show on Paul Laurence Dunbar, Lyrics of the Hearthside, which he developed while studying for a Ph.D in theatre.

In 1980 he won a Fringe First and Best One-man show award at the Edinburgh Festival. The United States Information Service sponsored an African tour of his show. He later began work with Royal Shakespeare Company, and has continued his association with this company for over thirty years. He has also worked extensively at The Royal National theatre.