Forgotten Hollywood History and a Tale of Two Nuns‘See No Evil’‘Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison’‘The Nun’s Story’A Tale of Two
The Golden Era of Hollywood’s background contains stories as fascinating as those onscreen. Its least-explored realm is the Production Code Administration (PCA). This subdivision of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) was unconnected to any studio, government organization, or religious group, yet no movie could be released without its Seal of Approval, signifying compliance with the Motion Picture Production Code’s moral standards. However, few know about the PCA. No other source reveals the PCA’s workings like “See No Evil: Life Inside a Hollywood Censor” by John A. Vizzard, one of the PCA’s longest-standing members. He worked there for 24 years, eventually becoming second-in-command. Despite crude language and unsupported statements, this book offers an unequaled raw depiction of the PCA’s heyday and decline, when the battle for film decency was…
ATLANTA—Actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd, known for his roles in Spike Lee films, has been shot and killed in Atlanta, police said Sunday.
Police responded to a call around 1:45 a.m. Saturday and found the 70-year-old Byrd unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds in his back, police spokesman Officer Anthony Grant said in a statement.
Responding paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene on the city’s southwest side, where he lived.
Grant said homicide detectives were working to determine the circumstances surrounding the shooting and declined to provide further details.
In an Instagram post Sunday, Lee said he was sad to announce Byrd’s death and recalled how the actor “did his thang” in his films including “Clockers,” “Chi-Raq,” “Bamboozled,” “He Got Game” and “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus,” among others.
“May we all wish condolences and blessings to his family,” Lee wrote. “Rest in peace, Brother Byrd.”
Lee also shared some of his favorite scenes with Byrd from “Clockers” and “Bamboozled.”
Byrd, also a stage actor, was nominated in 2003 for a Tony for his performance in the Broadway revival of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Charles S. Dutton.
Oscar-winning actor Viola Davis tweeted: “Oh no!!! 2020! Whaaattt!!!”
“Loved working with you Byrd,” she wrote. “What a fine actor you were. So sorry your life ended this way. Praying for your family.”
Byrd was a “brilliant dancer, actor, and friend,” Elisabeth Omilami, a fellow actor and community activist, told WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
“He was a special person whose personality filled up the whole room when he entered you knew he was there,” she said.
She said Byrd had just recently finished his last film, “Freedom’s Path,” with her husband, actor Afemo Omilami.
Actor Lori Petty tweeted, “What a man, what a talent … what a crazy loss.”
Focus News: Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Known for Spike Lee Films, Killed
Individual Rights Group Calls to Drop Probe Into Professor Who Used Term ‘Chinese Communist Party Virus’
A free-speech group has called on Syracuse University to drop an investigation into a chemistry professor who referred to the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease as “Chinese Communist Party virus” and “Wuhan flu” in his course syllabus. Syracuse University, a private college in New York state, on Aug. 25 announced that it had placed a professor on administrative leave, pending an investigation, for using “derogatory language” in a course syllabus that was “damaging to the learning environment” for students. The school said the wording was “offensive to Chinese, international and Asian-Americans everywhere who have experienced hate speech, rhetoric, and actions since the pandemic began.” The professor in question is Jon Zubieta, who has taught chemistry at the college for 30 years. Underneath a heading of the section of the…
