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Adilah Barnes is one of few veteran actors in Hollywood
that have not only mastered the art of successfully marketing herself, but
also of utilizing all of her many creative skills - all the while staying
true to herself and maintaining her integrity. She has guest-starred most
recently in ABC's popular series, The Middle, CBS'
well-received Cold Case, and TNT's Trust Me.
Other television credits include Gilmore Girls, City of Angels, For
the People, Roswell, The Agency, Family Law, City of Angels, Any Day Now,
Suddenly Susan and Mad About You. Her film credits
include playing opposite Sandra Bullock in the CastleRock Entertainment
film, Murder By Numbers and the Universal blockbuster and
award-winning Erin Brockovich with Julia Roberts. She has
also appeared opposite Ving Rhames in the CBS Hallmark made-for-tv movie, Little
John.
An award-winning actor with over 40 years of acting
experience, Barnes is best known to television audiences for her role as
Anne Marie on ABC's Roseanne for five seasons - and still
running in syndication. Barnes has been fortunate when it comes to landing
roles that come close to who she really is - a woman of enormous strength,
steadfastness and grit on a mission to teach us about life, history and
the rewards of perseverance.
In her role, opposite Hilary Swank, as the infamous Ida
B. Wells in HBO's Iron - Jawed Angels demonstrated this. As
Ida B. Wells in Iron Jawed Angels Barnes marched for women's
rights and ironically, in real life she is also a marcher and supporter
for women of every ethnicity.
Barnes has also extensively toured her own one-woman
play, I AM THAT I AM: WOMAN, BLACK, a historical journey
into the lives of seven renowned women that include Sojourner Truth,
Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine
Hansberry, Angela Davis and Maya Angelou. I AM THAT I AM: WOMAN,
BLACK, now in its twentieth season, has toured three continents
including 40 states across the U.S, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.
As a writer, Barnes released her first book, ON MY
OWN TERMS: One Actor's Journey in December of 2008. ON MY
OWN TERMS received the #3 non-fiction paperback rating in Essence
Magazine's June 2009 issue following President Obama's two
books. She also founded in 2007 The Writer's Well, an international
literary writer's retreat for women located in a very beautiful, woodsy
and serene environment in the Atlanta area. It has attracted writers from
as far away as Ghana.
Barnes is the Co-Founder of the Los Angeles Women's
Theatre Festival, an annual, multi-cultural festival that showcases
female artists in the disciplines of dance, music, theatrical
performances, spoken word and comedy that has produced well over 400
artists and is now in its seventeenth year. She, individually and the Los
Angeles Women's Theatre Festival were both honored with the prestigious Women
in Theatre Award in 2006.
2010 honors include X-Cel Entertainment's Lifetime
Achievement Award in Entertainment, Stop the Violence, Increase the
Peace Foundation's Spirit of Peace Award, Black Theatre
Network's Winona Fletcher Award, Oroville, CA's Dr. Martin
Luther King Day Award, and Towson University's Program of the Year
Award.
Also, this year, Adilah was honored with the
establishment of the 1st Annual Adilah Barnes Arts and Literary
Achievement Scholarship for Minneapolis, MN inner city youth.
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