A. Russell Andrews

A. Russell Andrews is an American actor, director and producer who grew up in Houston, Texas, and began performing at The Ensemble Theatre there. National and international tours of Thomas Meloncon's The Diary of Black Men led him to Houston's Alley Theatre, where performances as Willie in Miss Evers' Boys and as Levee in August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom drew attention. He then studied Shakespeare at the Folger Theatre in Washington, D.C., and played Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew. His first New York role, Superboy in Marion McClinton's Police Boys at Playwrights Horizons, led to steady regional theater and Off-Broadway work. He is a founding member of StageWalkers Productions, a Los Angeles stage company, and serves as its artistic director and managing producer; its work has earned more than 30 LA Theatre award nominations, including two NAACP Theatre Awards and two Ovation Awards. His first NAACP Theatre Award was for Best Actor, for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.