When Owen Dodson cast Earle Hyman as Hamlet in a production at Howard University, one of America’s historically Black colleges and universities, they sought a meeting with the British actor John Gielgud, who happened to be touring Washington at the time. Racial segregation laws decreed that they could only lunch at the city’s central bus station. Still, despite the unglamorous venue, the trio happily discussed the play.
Dodson’s 1951 production was widely acclaimed. A positive New York Times review, headlined Negro players present “Hamlet”, found that Hyman’s “reading shows a strong Gielgud influence”. The 25-year-old embarked on a distinguished career, becoming the first African American actor to play the big four Shakespearean roles of Macbeth, Hamlet, Lear and Othello, and featuring in the TV series ThunderCats and The Cosby Show.
