Lynn Manning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lynn Manning (1955—) is an award winning playwright, poet and actor.
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[edit] Biography
Lynn Manning's life was turned upside down when he was blinded in a Hollywood bar in 1978 at age 23. He has since gone on to make a name for himself as a playwright and actor.
He is perhaps best known for his semi-autobiographical work Weights, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2001. The play went on to win three NAACP Theatre Awards including Best Actor for Lynn and has since been performed throughout the country, including by the Theater By The Blind in New York City.
Lynn's latest play, Up From The Downs had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Design Center on May 7, 2005.
[edit] Childhood
Lynn Manning was born in Fresno, California, but raised in Los Angeles. He was born into a family with eight siblings, an abusive stepfather, and an alcoholic mother. At a young age, his mother was not in the condition of raising children causing him and his siblings to become separated and raised in foster care. As a young man, Manning had dreams of becoming a painter, but that all changed when he was shot in the face by an unknown attacker leaving him completely blind at the young age of 23.
[edit] Accomplishments
Becoming blind did not stop Manning from becoming successful. He is an award winning playwright, poet, actor, and former World Champion of Blind Judo, represented the United States in 1988 in the Paralympic Games in South Korea becoming silver medalist and received the U.S. Olympic Committee’s award for Blind Male Athlete of the Year. Weights is Manning’s first story winning three theatre awards, one being for best actor, and has written twelve other plays to date. Manning’s talent can be seen on shows such as Seinfeld, Dream On, and 8 Simple Rules, and commercials such as Nike and Bank of America advertisements. His poetry also appears in many magazines and anthologies like Staring Back and Grand Passion.
[edit] Weights
Manning’s famous play “Weights” was first performed in the year 2000 illustrating his life story from a young child in poverty to everything he has accomplished today as a blind man from writing poetry, plays, airing in television episodes, as well as commercials and the suffering and hard times he encountered throughout his years.
[edit] Current Life
Currently, Manning is still living in Los Angeles with his wife, Shirley. He is a member of Screen Actors' Guild, Actors' Equity, and The actor's Studio's West-coast Writers/Directors Unit. He is also teaching children and adults, whom are visually impaired, martial arts as a sensei of the judo program at the Braille Institute of Los Angeles.
