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Donald Cheadle: Gifted Actor, Noble Man

Who is Donald Frank Cheadle and why is he so important not only to the world of cinema but the cosmos at large? What qualities of his so nobly reflect the human spirit and why is his personal mission so important today? Read on to learn more about this talented and amazing man who is doing his best to make the world a better place for everyone.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 29, 1964, as a child, his family moved many times. He is one of three children (he has a brother and a sister) of Betty, a bank manager and psychology teacher, and Donald Cheadle, a clinical psychologist. He earned a BA in Fine Arts at the California Institute of The Arts. He said of the acting profession to which he was attracted at a very early age:

"I've been doing this since I was 10 years old, inhabiting different people and playing different roles. Thirty years later, there's still the same sort of excitement I get from it. It's still fun to inhabit different characters and play different things, so it's all in that panoply of acting."

He auditioned for many roles, and won a part in 1982 on the televisions series, Fame. John Irvin then cast him in his 1987 film, Hamburger Hill. It wasn't until 1995, however, and his stunning portrayal of Mouse Alexander in Devil in a Blue Dress that his outstanding talent was duly recognized by the Los Angeles Film Critics and the Best Supporting Actor Award. In 2004, his portrayal of Rwandan hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, in the film, Hotel Rwanda, gained him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a leading role. Cheadle has won many awards for his fine work in the movies and theater as well as television, and he currently lives in Los Angeles with actress, Brigit Coulter. The couple have two daughters.

The Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning actor performs many roles and not all of them are related to his chosen profession within which he is highly respected. He is actor and producer; that is a given, but he is also an author and philanthropist of the highest order. He has shown an acute interest in humanity by campaigning for the end of genocide in Darfur, Sudan. He co-authored a book on the subject entitled: Not On Our Watch: The Mission To End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond. He is not afraid to speak his mind and often does, whenever he gets the chance.

The PBS Series, African-American Lives, profiled Cheadle's family history, and DNA testing revealed that his ancestry derives from the Cameroons. He is a true descendant of the word, humanitarian, however, which transcends all of the places in the troubled world of today.

Long live Donald Cheadle and his mission to help all those in need!

Learn more about this author, M Dee Dubroff.
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