Anna Deavere Smith

Biography

Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor known for her notable roles in "Rachel Getting Married," "The West Wing," and "Nurse Jackie." She has received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize and was selected as the Jefferson Lecturer by the National Endowment for the Humanities. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she is also the founding director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at New York University.