THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090050
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARSHA GILBERT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THE STARS dropped more than tennis balls recently at the Tim Reid Celebrity Weekend.
In between competing in tournaments, signing autographs and mugging for pictures, they bounced around some hot tips during the four-day Norfolk State University scholarship fund-raiser.
Here's the scoop on what's going on with the entertainers.
It may be awhile before we see Angela Bassett on the big screen.
``I'm taking some time off,'' said Bassett, the Oscar-nominated actress. Last year, she starred in ``A Vampire in Brooklyn,'' ``Strange Days'' and ``Waiting to Exhale.''
``By the time I finished `Exhale,' I was eeex-hausted,'' Bassett said with a laugh. ``I told my agent I have to feel really passionate about the next part I accept.''
Tim Reid is excited about the new plans for his directorial debut, ``Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored.'' In June, it will open in 300 theaters in South Africa and Tel Aviv.
``This is the first time an American movie opened in more places in other countries than in the U.S,'' said Reid, who stars on ``Sister, Sister.'' ``It's like the Little Engine that Could. Nobody wanted it.''
It will be an even bigger Mother's Day/graduation day for NSU when Daphne Maxwell Reid gives the commencement address to the nearly 1,400 graduates at 2 p.m. Sunday at Norfolk's Scope.
The dynamic duo of Reid and Maxwell Reid will be honored with the university's first honorary doctorates of humane letters degree. The two have helped raise more than half a million dollars for scholarships with their celebrity weekends over the past six years.
Anna Marie Horsford grew on American audiences as Thelma Frye during the five seasons of ``Amen.'' She now plays Dee Baxter on ``The Wayans.'' Fans can see her soon in ``One Fine Day,'' with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney; in ``Set It Off,'' with Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett; in ``Kiss the Girl,'' with Morgan Freeman; and in ``Dear God,'' with Greg Kinnear.
Tatyana Ali came to Norfolk with her best friend and boyfriend, Jonathan Brandis, from TV's ``seaQuest.'' They stopped cuddling long enough for her to play a game of tennis.
The 17-year-old high school junior has more time for school, because she won't be returning as Ashley Banks on the canceled sitcom ``Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.''
Kenny Blank, 16, who plays Michael Peterson on ``The Parent'Hood,'' is a freshman at the University of Southern California, majoring in cinema and television production.
Blank started playing the synthesizer at age 3. The prodigy has scored music for ``The Parent'Hood,'' ``Fresh Prince,'' ``T.V. Nation,'' ``Home Improvement'' and ``The Montel Williams Show.''
Children's tales never sounded so good. Robert Guillaume, best remembered for his work on ``Benson,'' narrates a tape series including ``Rumpelstiltskin,'' ``Little Red Riding Hood,'' ``Hansel and Gretel'' and ``Sleeping Beauty.''
Guillaume will star in the motion picture ``First Kid,'' with comedian Sinbad; ``Spy Hard,'' with Leslie Nielson; and ``God Speed,'' with track star Gail Devers. In May, a two-disc set of Guillaume singing will be released by Time Life.
Suzzanne Douglas, Jerri on ``The Parent'Hood,'' is filming a spin-off of the show ``Touched by an Angel'' with Ossie Davis and Gerald McRaney. The yet untitled show is to air this fall.
Douglas will also perform in a one-woman show about Billy Holiday at Martha's Vineyard this summer.
We might get to see Chesapeake's own Patricia Southall Lawrence on a daily basis. You'll remember she won the Miss Virginia Pageant and married comic actor Martin Lawrence. The new mom, accompanied by 3-month-old daughter Jasmin, has auditioned to host her own talk show.
``It will have a news format with good, positive issues,'' said Southall Lawrence, a James Madison University journalism graduate. ``It won't be anything that exploits people.'' ILLUSTRATION: FILE PHOTO
Tim Reid and wife Daphne Maxwell Reid were hosts for festivities at
Norfolk State.
by CNB