Kirk Taylor

Did you know?!

1. A first

   Taylor started performing on stage while a student at Central High School. He was the first Black student to become King of The Barnum Festival, a statewide competition in scholastics and leadership.

2. First role

   In 1984, Kirk Taylor started his film career playing Flash the waiter in The Cotton Club, which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

3. Early training

   Taylor earned a BFA at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, majoring in drama and minoring in music. While there, he studied acting under Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler and David Garfield.

4. A first

   Chapman Roberts, who has won four Grammy Awards as a vocal arranger, directed Taylor at Carnegie Hall in 2014. The occasion was the Broadway Reunion with Black Stars of the Great White Way.

5. Early training

   Kirk Taylor was an acting teacher at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City between 1988 and 1993, working with the Young People's, Professional, and NYU programs. Jessie L. Martin, Chandra Wilson and Gary Dourdan were among his students.