Cambridge, Edmund, 1920-2001

Edmund Cambridge was an African-American actor, director, stage manager, drama instructor and producer who achieved success on stage, and in film and television in a career spanning sixty years. One of the founding members of the Negro Ensemble Company, he directed its first major production, "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men," in 1969.

Following his move to California in the early 1970s Cambridge's career centered in Los Angeles where he taught acting and directed plays for the Kilpatrick-Cambridge Theater Arts School, which he co-founded in 1971. In 1975 he founded and served as artistic director of an acting troupe, the Cambridge Players. He also directed many productions for the Los Angeles Theatre Center and served as the director in residence and drama instructor of the Crossroads Arts Academy.

In 1984 Cambridge directed the original production of Christine Houston's play "227" at Marla Gibbs' Crossroads Theatre in Los Angeles, and later directed a number of episodes of the television sitcom that grew out of the play. Among his many acting credits in television were guest appearances on "The Jeffersons," "Sanford and Son," "ER," "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and "Family Matters."