Richard Lawson

Personal context

Summary

Richard Lawson is an American actor whose career spans film, television, and theater, with roles in Poltergeist, Dynasty, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. His work includes stage and screen stories about Black life, and he co-founded WACO Theater Center, which centers art and stories from the African diaspora. Lawson has called for black people to tell and preserve their own stories, described a lack of black representation in early film and television, and said his purpose is to move the culture forward through his roles. No public party campaigning or LGBTQ advocacy is on record.