Glynn Turman

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Glynn Turman (born January 31, 1946 in New York, New York) is a stage, television, and film actor. He was married to Aretha Franklin (1978 - 1984) and now is married to Joann with whom he has a child.

[edit] Career

Glynn Turman had his first prominent acting role at the age of 13 as Travis Younger in the Broadway play of Lorraine Hansberry's classic A Raisin in the Sun, opposite Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and Diana Sands. While he did not play the role when it transferred to film in 1961, he intensified his studies at Manhattan's School of Performing Arts. Upon graduation he apprenticed in regional and repertory companies throughout the country including Tyrone Guthrie's Repertory Theatre in which he performed in late 60s productions of "Good Boys," "Harper's Ferry," "The Visit" and "The House of Atreus." He made his Los Angeles stage debut in Vinnette Carroll's "Slow Dance on the Killing Ground." An impressive 1974 performance in "The Wine Sellers" earned him a Los Angeles Critics Award nomination and a Dramalogue Award. The play was also produced on Broadway as "What The Wine Sellers Buy." He won his first NAACP Image Award for his work in the play "Eyes of the American."

A stage director as well, he received his second NAACP Image award for his directing of "Deadwood Dick" at the Inner City Cultural Center. He segued these directing talents to TV where he helmed several episodes of The Parent 'Hood, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and "The Wayans Bros," among others. He also directed during his seasons of steady employment on A Different World, in which he played the role of Colonel Taylor for five seasons (1988-1993). The show's theme song was sung by his ex-wife, legendary "Queen of Soul" artist Aretha Franklin. They divorced in 1984 after six years.

He began his film career in the 1970s with such blaxploitation flicks as Five on the Black Hand Side, Together Brothers and Thomasine & Bushrod, then progressed to roles in the cult classic Cooley High in 1975, plus The River Niger and A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich. TV-movies included the prestigious "Centennial", 1978 mini-series, Attica, and Minstrel Man, for which he won his third NAACP Image Award. The quality of Glynn's work has shown over the decades with his participation in such prominent TV-movies as Race to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in 1994, Buffalo Soldiers and Freedom Song. More notable films include Gremlins, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. In 2004 he joined the series The Wire portraying the recurring role of Mayor Clarence Royce becoming full-time regular in 2006.