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Stedman Graham was born on March 6, 1951 in Whitesboro, NJ, a community founded in 1901 by a group of prominent African-Americans which included Booker T. Washington and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Stedman attended Middle Township High School where the 6’6? phenom starred on the varsity basketball team.
After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Hardin-Simmons University, he played professionally in Europe for a few years before returning to the U.S. to work on his Master’s in Education from Ball State.
An enduring, high-profile relationship with Oprah Winfrey has perhaps overshadowed the long list of business and charitable accomplishments accumulated over the course of Mr. Graham’s impressive career as Chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, a management and marketing consulting firm specializing in the corporate and educational fields.
A prolific writer, he is also the author of ten books, two of which became NY Times bestsellers. And he has taught at several colleges, including a course on leadership at the University of Illinois and one on strategic management at Northwestern.
Most importantly, Mr. Graham has exhibited a lifelong commitment to community via Athletes Against Drugs (AAD), a non-profit organization he founded in 1985 which remains dedicated to developing leadership in underserved youth through scholarships and education. Recently, Stedman talked to me about his work with AAD and other projects.
The Oprah Winfrey Bio by Kitty Kelley is being made into movie. The book was not the blockbuster that publishers thought it would be. So, it comes as a surprise that a movie is being made based on the book.
Are people starting to disconnect with Oprah? Her show is in reruns at the moment, but the ratings are worse than last year. Analysts are saying people know her talk show is ending in September 2011, so they are starting to disconnect by finding other alternatives at that time slot.
The Emmy-winning actress who brought the sexually liberated Southern belle Blanche Devereaux to life on the hit TV series “The Golden Girls,” has died. She was 76.
Her manager Barbara Lawrence said McClanahan died Thursday at 1 a.m. of a stroke.
She had undergone treatment for breast cancer in 1997 and later lectured to cancer support groups on “aging gracefully.” In 2009, she had heart bypass surgery.
McClanahan had an active career in off-Broadway and regional stages in the 1960s before she was tapped for TV in the 1970s for the key best-friend character on the hit series “Maude,” starring Beatrice Arthur. After that series ended in 1978, McClanahan landed the role as Aunt Fran on “Mama’s Family” in 1983.
But her most loved role came in 1985 when she co-starred with Arthur, Betty White and Estelle Getty in “The Golden Girls,” a runaway hit that broke the sitcom mold by focusing on the foibles of four aging – and frequently eccentric – women living together in Miami.
“Golden Girls” aimed to show “that when people mature, they add layers,” she told The New York Times in 1985. “They don’t turn into other creatures. The truth is we all still have our child, our adolescent, and your young woman living in us.”
Blanche, who called her father “Big Daddy,” was a frequent target of roommates Dorothy, Rose and the outspoken Sophia (Getty), who would fire off zingers at Blanche such as, “Your life’s an open blouse.”
McClanahan snagged an Emmy for her work on the show in 1987. In an Associated Press interview that year, McClanahan said Blanche was unlike any other role she had ever played.
“Probably the closest I’ve ever done was Blanche DuBois in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ at the Pasadena Playhouse,” she said. “I think, too, that’s where the name came from, although my character is not a drinker and not crazy.”
Her Blanche Devereaux, she said, “is in love with life and she loves men. I think she has an attitude toward women that’s competitive. She is friends with Dorothy and Rose, but if she has enough provocation she becomes competitive with them. I think basically she’s insecure. It’s the other side of the Don Juan syndrome.”
Speaking of Oprah, she had a rough week with the release of the unauthorized biography by Kitty Kelley. More startling revelations came out. For instance, who is Oprah’s daddy? Noah Robinson, an 84-year old World War II veteran who lives in Mississippi, says he’s her daddy, and he wants Oprah to take a DNA test. Oprah says no way! She dismissed the book as a So Called Biography and proclaimed This Too Shall Pass. In the meantime, there are Oprah family members who now wish they never talked to Kitty Kelley. Oprah’s 82-year old cousin/aunt, Katherine Carr Esters, says she was misquoted and tricked, and she regrets what she said about Oprah. Meanwhile, Oprah’s stepfather, Vernon Winfrey, is sticking by his statements in the book. In other “Mighty O” news, she is planning a reality show based on the final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show that will air on her new network OWN. We will see Oprah unwrapped with no makeup, having a bubble bath and living her life.
Whitney Houston Tour has Fans Asking for Refunds. There have been multiple reports in the past week calling Whitney Houston’s overseas tour performances a complete disaster and that she’s been asked to postpone some dates due to her “fragile condition.” The latest complaints come from Australian fans, who apparently watched as the diva flubbed her way through a concert in Brisbane on Monday night. Popeater is reporting that the 46-year-old “took a break after just two songs, brought her brother onstage to hit her high notes and slurped from a water bottle through a closing performance of ‘I Will Always Love You.’” One concertgoer told the press outside: “She couldn’t entertain a dead rat.” Monday’s performance at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was the first of several Australian stops on Houston’s “Nothing But Love” comeback tour. On Tuesday (Feb. 23), concert promoter Andrew McManus defended the singer against the many ticket purchasers calling for a refund. “It was not a train wreck,” McManus told Agence France-Presse of Houston’s performance. “She was hitting most of the notes; yes, her throat was a little croaky. Her health is fine, but she’s also not 22 years of age anymore.” According to concert reviews cited by the AFP, Houston also appeared disoriented during the show, relied heavily upon backup singers and struggled to remember the names of her band members. “This show was like watching a slow and painful death of a living legend,” a Courier-Mail reader wrote in. Last week, a rep for Whitney Houston denied rumors that the “Million Dollar Bill” singer is in ill health following poor performances in Japan. According to the National Enquirer, Houston was urged to postpone upcoming live dates “after a string of health problems in recent months.” But her spokesperson called the article “rubbish” and “ridiculous.” In fact, she has added three more dates to her upcoming U.K. leg, which kicks off in Manchester on April 8.
Whitney Houston has suffered another setback in her ongoing tour of Australia — fans walked out of her show in Sydney on Wednesday night after the singer’s voice began to fail.
The “I Will Always Love You” hit maker was previously accused of putting on a lackluster performance in Brisbane on Monday, reportedly coughing through her set and taking breaks to catch her breath.
Promoters behind the concert defended Houston’s performance, and brushed off fears the star is in poor health.
But concerns for the singer were raised again on Wednesday following her show at the Acer Arena.
Search: Whitney Houston
View results for: Houston’s concert woes Houston’s career Houston’s comeback Reporters at local newspaper the Sydney Daily Telegraph claim the first 50 minutes of the concert ran smoothly, but the show began to deteriorate after a 13 minute break halfway through, with fans allegedly storming out of the gig as Houston began to struggle with her set.
One fan, Shane Norquay, tells the paper, “Some of it’s been beautiful and some it is just horrible. It feels like she’s trying to be herself but it’s not working.”
Bernadette Latta, whose son bought her the tickets as a Christmas gift, adds, “It’s terrible. I have never walked out before a concert finished but that was just terrible. I’ll be suggesting my son tries to get a refund.”
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OK let’s be for real, and stop the b.s. about Whitney. Whitney Houston was trying to revive her career at what cost. Where is the voice Whitney (gone)? Your CD sucked I didn’t enjoy not one song on it compare to what you have put out in the height of your career. The interview with Oprah was obvious scripted and mostly lies, baby girl we saw through all that b.s., even Ray Charles saw that shyt from the grave you where ly
ing. You are not finished with drugs OK, just admit it and makeup in your mind to change your life for the better, we don’t care if you never sing another song, just get your health corrected, and for God’s sake your mind. Get some therapy because you so desperately need it, and don’t believe it. Whitney you are so obvious by your behavior, just recently “BET Honors” need I say more……………..
There are family and friends that truly love you and are concerned about you, and you my dear are not listening, Bobbie has moved on with another marriage and child. Whitney’s what’s your excuse. You where blessed with an amazing voice, beautiful looks, and nice shape body, please tell us Whitney what can we do to help you???? Trust me it is not seeing you perform in concert right now, because you are not even there yourself!!!
Well after watching Monday’s show, I really didn’t learn anything new. We all knew Whitney
truly loved her husband, otherwise why would she have gone to lengths to forget about
her God given gift of singing. I was surprise about when is Whitney taking responsibility
for her actions in all this. I’m not taking up for Bobbie Brown, but it takes two to work or
fail in any relationship. Was love truly blind in this situation, or a need to be accepted for
who she really is. A fragile being in need of love. Not to say now her family didn’t love her
but we all have our definition of “what love is”. I’m happy for her that she is now reconnecting
with her family and especially her daughter. For moment she looked as though she was becoming
just as lost and her Mother. Hopefully this new beginning will give her a better understanding
of who she is, and what is it she wants to share with the world.
Fame brings very high joys, and sometimes emotional sorrows. It takes a very strong
individual to withstand “Gollywood”, as Whitney’s cousin Dionne Warwick calls it.
We all ask for certain things in life, especially success, but are we really prepared for the
outcome of that decision. Is it truly what we want, or a glorified fantasy.
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