| Summary: | Director and actor Arthur Wellesley French, Jr. was born in Harlem, New York City. Educated at Brooklyn College, French worked for New York City's department of social services before studying with Lee Strasberg. French was a protégée of Maxwell Glanville, founder of The Dramatic Workshop; and, performed with Amiri Baraka's Black Arts Repertory Theater. In 1965, French appeared in Douglas Turner Ward's Day of Absence. An original member of the Negro Ensemble Company, French's work includes roles from Death of a Salesman to Melvin Van Peebles' Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death. French's film credits have included Malcolm X Crooklyn, Round Midnight, 2 Days in New York, and Red Hook Summer. He directed Lungelo Mvusi's Just Won't, George Bernard Shaw's The Village Wooing, and Wole Soyinka's Strong Breed. French won an Obie in 1997, and has taught at Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
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