Steve Willis of Bennett College was scholar-in-residence at New York University in 2006 researching Sands. Since then he’s written a play about her which has been performed at a number of venues around the U.S.<\/p>\n
Her tragically curtailed but brilliantly accomplished life and acting career was a matter of breaking down one barrier after another. We all know I’m dubious about saying someone was the “first,” but Sands played Shaw, Shakespeare–virtually unheard of for an African-American woman up to that point. She was a Broadway star, and starred in movies, and in regional theater, and on TV in I Spy, Julia, Medical Center, The Fugitive, et. al.<\/p>\n
I said to Steve, why don’t you write a biography, and he said why don’t we collaborate and I said Sure. So we’re going to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steve Willis of Bennett College was scholar-in-residence at New York University in 2006 researching Sands. Since then he’s written a play about her which has been performed at a number of venues around the U.S. Her tragically curtailed but brilliantly … Continue reading