Frank Adu
Acting
Biography
Frank Edward Robinson was born on April 25, 1937 to the late Adkin and Mary Robinson in White Plains, New York. Frank was a resident of The Bronx, New York for nearly seventy-five years. He was educated in New York City public schools in the Bronx and Manhattan and later studied acting at the American Community Theater under the direction of the late Maxwell Glanville. He was united in marriage to Claretha Fleming on November 27, 1965. In this union they raised three children. Frank completed one tour of service in the United States Marine Corps beginning in 1956. Later, while raising his family and pursuing an acting career, he gained employment with the United Postal Service where he remained until his retirement in 2001. His true passion was for the arts as a vehicle for cultural and political awareness. This led him to join a group of artists with similar interests and worldview to help found the African Jazz Arts Society and Studios (AJASS), a progenitor of the Black Arts and "Black is Beautiful" movements, out of which grew the renowned Grandassa Models and the "Naturally" show. In addition to being one of two male "Naturally" models, Frank served as the Director of the AJASS Repertory Theater, staging and appearing in Caste Life Revue and Portrait of Patrice Lumumba. Forever connected to his AJASS family, Frank extended his reach as he pursued a career as a professional actor, devoting his time talent and energy to theater as a performer, teacher and mentor. Performing in venues at home and abroad (Switzerland, France and Italy), Frank worked in stage, television and on the big screen. Among his stage credits are Amiri Baraka's Slave Ship; Ray Aranha's My Sister, My Sister; Richard Wesley's The Mighty Gents; Phillip Hayes Dean's Every Night When the Sun Goes Down; Melvin van Peebles' Ain't Supposed to Die A Natural Death; August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone & Two Trains Running; Leslie Lee's Black Eagles; Public Theater Productions of The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Corelainus. As a member of Gertrude Jeannette's HADLEY Players Repertory Company, Frank also appeared in This Way Forward, A Bolt from the Blue and Gladys' Dilemma. Film appearances include Across 110th Street, Fort Apache The Bronx, Love and Death, Taxi Driver, Heart, For Love of the Game and Malcolm X. Work in television includes Like It Is, Kojak, The Equalizer, Spencer for Hire, New York Undercover, Law and Order and The Cosby Show.
Known For
In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.
Law & Order
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.
The Cosby Show
Robert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them.
The Equalizer
Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.
Taxi Driver
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Malcolm X
A baseball legend almost finished with his distinguished career at the age of forty has one last chance to prove who he is, what he is capable of, and win the heart of the woman he has loved for the past four years.
For Love of the Game
In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.
Love and Death
In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?
Across 110th Street
A rash of bizarre murders in New York City seems to point to a group of grotesquely deformed vagrants living in the sewers. A courageous policeman, a photojournalist and his girlfriend, and a nutty bum, who seems to know a lot about the creatures, band together to try and determine what the creatures are and how to stop them.
C.H.U.D.
From the sight of a police officer this movie depicts the life in New York's infamous South Bronx. In the center is "Fort Apache", as the officers call their police station, which really seems like an outpost in enemy's country. The story follows officer Murphy, who seems to be a tuff cynic, but in truth he's a moralist with a sense for justice.
Fort Apache, the Bronx
A video recording of a New York Shakespeare Festival 1979 stage production of Coriolanus with an all-black and Hispanic cast. Producer Joseph Papp intended to provide professional opportunities for actors of minority ethnic backgrounds. A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
Coriolanus
Eddie Brennan is a down-and out fighter with nowhere to go but up... and with just the right combination of guts and spirit to become a winner. Once a contender, Brennan is now a washed-up has-been living in a fantasy world halfway between the dreams of his glory days and the dreams of a comeback. And when a set-up fight disguised as a legitimate bout comes his way, he jumps at the chance. No one thinks Eddie can win... least of all his trainer. No one wants Eddie to win... especially the crooked promoters. But Eddie's got something to prove to them all... and to himself. And he'll do anything to show that he's got the heart it takes to be a winner.
Heart
When a twisted psychotic kidnaps a young girl, mistaking her for the daughter of a wealthy developer, her father, a hardened ex-cop, doggedly hunts them through New York's seamy streets.
Night of the Juggler
A museum worker pretends to be an artist in order to impress women. When an attractive assistant director of a SoHo art gallery overhears him, she offers to exhibit his work. He plays along, which leads to a series of complications following his newfound double life. He starts falling in love with the assistant director, but her art critic fiancé grows suspicious.